Survival rates are significantly higher with the ventricular assist device (VAD) than with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, but serious adverse events, including infection, stroke and bleeding, occurred in a majority of study participants in both arms, according to the results of the prospective Berlin Heart Study, published Aug. 8 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Event rates were similar and extremely low when performing defibrillation testing versus not performing defibrillation testing during de novo implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implants, according to the prospective, observational SAFE-ICD study. The study authors suggested that their findings support a strategy of omitting defibrillation testing during an ICD implant.

Abiomed, a developer of heart support technologies, has received Health Canada approval to market the Impella cVAD device, a new percutaneous Impella heart pump.

CHICAGOAs more technologies emerge and even more patients are being diagnosed with advanced heart failure, are left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) the answer or is there an alternative? Audrey Douglas-Cooke, RN, tackled this question during a presentation June 6 at MedAxioms 2nd annual Cardiovascular Service Line Symposium.

Using a small monitoring device that fits in the cap of a pill vial, researchers tracked the pill-taking patterns of heart failure (HF) patients for six months to identify factors that contribute to medication nonadherence. They found nonadherents were more likely to have attention lapses, excessive daytime sleepiness and multiple dosing, knowledge providers can use to better manage patients.

Maquet Cardiopulmonary, a branch of Maquet Cardiovascular that provides extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and extracorporeal life support systems (ECLS), has signed an agreement with Avalon Laboratories to acquire its catheter product and complimentary vascular access kits for use during ECMO and ECLS.

Heart failure patients who received cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) and multidisciplinary care had better survival rates and a lower risk of hospitalization than CRT patients given conventional care, according to a study published online May 21 in the European Heart Journal. Although compelling, the results need to be validated in a prospective randomized trial, the authors wrote.

BOSTON Despite recent studies that question the "inappropriate use" of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) in primary prevention, the large OMNI registry, presented May 11 at the 33rd annual scientific sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS), found that patients who received ICD implants in a non-evidence based manner experienced similar therapeutic benefit and outcomes to those who received evidence-based treatments.