The FDA cleared the TrailBlazer angled support catheter Sept. 23 for use in the peripheral vascular system.

Open-heart surgery is an especially risky procedure for children, with mortality rates reaching 20 percent for complex operations. Also, because their hearts are still growing, some children may require up to five open-heart procedures to resize conduits.

Time and surgery are of the essence when it comes to stroke treatment. A study published in the Sept. 27 issue of JAMA found that earlier treatment with endovascular thrombectomy plus medical therapy was associated with less disability after three months.

Women on the heart transplant list are more likely than their male counterparts to die while waiting for a heart transplant, according to a poster presented at the Heart Failure Society of America Scientific Assembly.

Americans’ lives have been getting steadily longer since the 1960s, thanks in part to a steady decline in heart disease rates. However, that trend of longer, healthier lives may soon be coming to an end.

A retired surgeon from South Dakota admitted that he lied under oath two decades ago when he testified in a malpractice lawsuit against one of his partners, NPR and ProPublica report.

Patients who developed infective endocarditis after undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) had high rates of morbidity and mortality, according to a registry analysis. The in-hospital mortality rate was 36 percent, while the two-year mortality rate was 66.7 percent.

A randomized trial found that patients had similar rates of survival and quality of life whether they underwent elective open and endovascular repair of their aortic abdominal aneurysm (AAA). The procedures also had similar costs and cost-effectiveness ratios.