Boston Scientific Corporation has received CE Mark approval for the ACCOLADETM pacemaker family. When implanted with the company's INGEVITYTM leads, ACCOLADE pacemakers are the first to enable patients to receive full-body MRI scans in both 1.5 Tesla and 3.0 Tesla systems. In addition, the Boston Scientific ImageReadyTM technology offers the most flexible MRI options, allowing higher energy scan sequences, and featuring a programmable MRI timer designed to improve patient workflow.

Today, the electrophysiology service of the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Heart, Vascular and Stroke Care announces participation in a new Transatlantic Network of Excellence as part of a $6 million award from the Leducq Foundation.

Cardiologists on the medical staff at Baylor Jack and Jane Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital (BHVH) today implanted an investigational cardiac pacemaker the size of a multivitamin. The first implantable pacemakers, developed in the late-1950s, were nearer the size of a transistor radio.

Imricor Medical Systems, Inc. announced the first three cardiac ablation procedures were completed in the first clinical study that is evaluating the feasibility of their MR-enabled products to treat atrial flutter. Professor Reza Razavi, Head of the Division of Imaging Sciences & Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, is the principal investigator for the study and along with Mark O'Neill, Professor of Cardiac Electrophysiology and Consultant Cardiologist, Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Trust performed the procedures. The prospective pilot study will enroll up to 15 patients at this center.

Bramah N. Singh, MD, an emeritus professor of cardiology at University of California, Los Angeles, who co-developed a classification system for anti-arrhythmic medications, died at his home on Sept. 20, the university announced. He was 76 years old.

When comparing risk of inappropriate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) shocks in two types of therapy, researchers in the OPTION study found a significant advantage in dual-chamber therapy. Fewer inappropriate shocks were delivered to patients on dual-chamber than on single-chamber settings, especially those programmed with algorithms for minimizing ventricular pacing.

An FDA advisory committee is scheduled to vote Oct. 8 on the Watchman Left Atrial Appendage Closure device to reduce the risk of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. The FDA asked panelists to re-evaluate the filing in light of new clinical data on adverse events.

The Department of Defense awarded contracts topping $67 million to two companies for airworthy defibrillators under its war-stopper funds.