According to research presented during the 21st annual scientific sessions of the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) in San Diego this week, cardiac troponin plasma concentrations and longitudinal strain can predict the development of cardiotoxicity in patients treated with anthracyclines and trastuzumab chemotherapies.

Medtronic has publicly disclosed its U.S. physician relationships that result in aggregate compensation above $5,000 in each calendar year, revealing that the company paid out more than $15.7 million in the first quarter of 2010, which ended March 31.

Phase 2 of the CUPID trial, which is assessing a gene therapy for heart failure (HF) patients, has met the safety and efficacy endpoints, and has shown to improve heart function, according to a late-breaking trial presentation at Heart Failure Congress 2010 (HFC), the annual meeting of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology in Berlin.

Pfizer plans to halt recruitment to the EMPHASIS-HF trial early on the recommendations of the trial's independent Executive Steering Committee. The recommendations follow a second interim analysis by the Data Safety Monitoring Committee of the EMPHASIS-HF trial confirming the study has reached its primary efficacy endpoint early according to the protocol pre-defined stopping rules, the company reported.

WASHINGTON, D.C.A novel hospital-to-home transition program for patients with cardiovascular disease has shown to significantly reduce 30-day readmission rates and emergency department visits, according to a poster presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) Quality of Care and Outcomes Research in Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke meeting last week.

Aastrom Biosciences has launched a prospective, multicenter clinical trial to evaluate a catheter-based treatment for dilated cardiomyopathy through the treatment of its first patient.

Gene-expression profiling of patients who received a prior cardiac transplant may be a good alternative to routine biopsies, as rates of adverse events and risk were similar between the two methods, according to the IMAGE trial published May 18 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A Phase IIIb randomized, double-blind clinical trial to study the clinical benefit of dronedarone (Multaq, Sanofi-Aventis) in more than 10,000 patients with atrial fibrillation will assess the drug's capability to reduce major adverse cardiovascular events.