Patient advocatesoften suffering from incurable diseaseshave become increasingly influential in pushing for the development of new therapies, and that influence has been multiplied by the internets ability to quickly spread information and connect like-minded individuals.

Medtronic has announced a decrease in net earnings, despite an increase in revenues among its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2011, which ended Oct. 29.

Rates of post-discharge mortality for patients with acute MI (AMI) have increased, and researchers said this is due to higher non-cardiovascular mortality in older patient populations, according to a study published in the November issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

CHICAGOWhile the GRAVITAS findings, presented today at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions, do not support adopting a treatment strategy of 150 mg of clopidogrel in post-PCI patients with high residual reactivity, some have speculated its approach of assessing patients via platelet reactivity testing may gain increased traction in U.S. clinical practice. However, former AHA President Raymond J. Gibbons, MD, told Cardiovascular Business News that he does not agree with that assessment.

CHICAGO--In patients requiring stenting of coronary arteries larger than 3 mm in diameter, no significant differences were found among sirolimus-eluting, everolimus-eluting and bare-metal stents with respect to the rate of death or MI, according to the late-breaking BASKET-PROVE trial, which was presented today at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions. However, the trial was technically underpowered.

Results of the SESAME trial, which evaluated the self-expanding super-elastic all-metal endoprosthesis stent (Sesame stent, Palmaz Scientific) in patients undergoing PCI of degenerated saphenous vein graft (SVG) lesions, proved to have 100 percent acute success, low 30-day major adverse cardiac events (MACE) rates and nine-month patency compared with balloon expandable stents without embolic protection, according to a study published in the November issue of Catheterization and Cardiovascular Intervention (CCI).

CHICAGOMatthew J. Price, MD, sits down to discuss the much-anticipated results of the late-breaking GRAVITAS trial, along with the importance of platelet reactivity testing in real-life clinical practice to ensure more personalized therapy.

CHICAGO--Paul A. Gurbel, MD, from the Center for Thrombosis Research at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, who was the principal investigator of the ONSET/OFFSET and RESPOND studies, reviews findings from new genotyping analyses, which show genotype variations and metabolizer status does not affect platelet inhibition for patients taking ticagrelor (Brilinta, AstraZeneca).