ORLANDO, Fla.--In patients with ST-elevation MI (STEMI), TAXUS stents significantly reduce neointimal hyperplasia compared to bare-metal stents, but also result in a high frequency of late acquired stent malapposition, according to a substudy of HORIZONS-AMI presented Sunday at the i2 Summit at the American College of Cardiology's (ACC) 58th annual scientific session.

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) have released updated guidelines on the diagnosis and management of heart failure to help physicians incorporate the latest research findings into treating these patients.

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.