Patients with STEMI revascularized with PCI who had severely impaired left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) but no inducible ventricular tachycardia had good outcomes without the need for an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), according to a study published Dec. 31 in Circulation.  

CSL Behring today announced that Kcentra® (Prothrombin Complex Concentrate [Human]) has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for an expanded indication -- urgent reversal of acquired coagulation factor deficiency induced by vitamin K antagonist (VKA, e.g., warfarin) therapy in adult patients needing an urgent surgery or other invasive procedure. Kcentra, approved by the FDA in April 2013 for the urgent reversal of warfarin therapy in adult patients with acute major bleeding, is the only non-activated 4-factor prothrombin complex concentrate (4F-PCC) indicated in the U.S. for these uses.

Is the Holter monitor heading toward obsolescence? One study that compared a lightweight patch to Holter monitors for detecting arrhythmias declared the patch the victor and suggested the newer technology will oust this standard approach.

Physicians or others who want to weigh in on a draft protocol to assess safety outcomes in atrial fibrillation patients newly treated with dabigatran or warfarin have until Jan. 13 to submit comments.

Results for a pilot registry on the management and treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) in Europe were presented yesterday by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). AF is the commonest cardiac rhythm disorder and each of us have a one-in-four lifetime risk of developing it. Statistics show that oral anticoagulant use has increased, but new oral anticoagulant (NOAC) use is still low. Authors also concluded that compliance with treatment guidelines for patients with the lowest and higher stroke risk scores remains suboptimal.

In what might appear as nominal itself, a study on nominative determinism found that people with the surname Brady may be prone to bradycardia.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo have developed a new technology that could dramatically reduce the number of open-heart surgeries for people with pacemakers.

More than 33 million people worldwide live with atrial fibrillation and the burden of living with the condition grew nearly 19 percent over the past two decades, a study published online Dec. 17 in Circulation found.