Oklahoma Heart Institute, a newly constructed $64 million hospital dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease, opened its doors on March 11 to begin caring for patients.

The second phase of Abbott's ABSORB clinical trial to evaluate the safety and performance of its fully bioabsorbable drug-eluting stent (DES) has commenced, with plans toenroll approximately 80 patients at 10 centers in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and incorporate device enhancements.

Researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, Calif., have pooled individual patient data from 10different clinical trialsto compare the effectiveness of CABG with the less-invasive PCI on specific groups of patients for the first time, according to a study published online March 19 in the Lancet.

Cook plans to appeal an initial ruling of The District Court of Dsseldorf, Germany, which determined that Edwards Lifesciences does not infringe on the German transcatheter valve patent from Cook.

Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, Cordis, has launched a global, head-to-head, randomized clinical trial to compare its Nevo sirolimus-eluting coronary stent with the Xience V everolimus-eluting coronary stent from Abbott.

Measuring a PCI procedure by metrics such as the number or length of stents implanted may help predict the likelihood of adverse events and may also help identify which patients will benefit most from therapy with GP IIb/IIIa inhibitor eptifibatide (Integrilin), according to the ESPIRIT randomized trial published in the February issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions.

Bivalirudins positive showing in HORIZONS AMI portends a shift in the therapeutic regimen for STEMI patients undergoing PCI.

Bioabsorbable polymer drug-eluting stents are safe and effective in patients with single coronary artery lesions after two years, with no cardiac deaths, retreatment of diseased lesions or stent thromboses reported, according to the outcomes of the ABSORB trial published in the March 12 issue of the Lancet that will be presented at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) conference this month in Orlando, Fla.