NEWTON, Mass.Everyone who receives ECMO [extracorporeal membrane oxygenation] does not die, said Joshua N. Baker, MD, a cardiovascular surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston, during a presentation April 26 at the American Heart Association's 22nd Annual Cardiovascular Nursing Conference. While ECMO is still sparsely used in the U.S., there may be ground for more widespread acceptance despite the costs, he told Cardiovascular Business.

AstraZenecas CEO and board member, David Brennan, has decided to retire and relinquish his board responsibilities as of June 1. He has served as CEO since Jan. 1, 2006, but the company has experienced a few difficult, consecutive financial quarters, to which many analysts attribute his departure.

The clock is ticking. With its deadline looming, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is exploring issues related to transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) as the agency completes its national coverage determination. The final decision, originally scheduled for June 26, may be released as early as May.

The FDA is warning of possible risks when using blood pressure medicines containing aliskiren (Tekturna, Novartis Pharmaceuticals) with ACE inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) in patients with diabetes or renal impairment. These drug combinations should not be used (are contraindicated) in patients with diabetes.

Medicare Part D beneficiaries with no financial assistance who fall in the coverage gap known as the donut hole are 57 percent more likely to discontinue cardiovascular (CV) medications, according to a study published online April 17 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. The researchers added that it was unclear whether these lapses affected long-term outcomes.

A once-daily dosing regimen was related to greater adherence versus a twice-daily regimen with prescription medications used by patients with cardiovascular disease, according to a large analysis in the March issue of the American Journal of Managed Care.

Counter to some findings, a large prospective study of two angiotensin II receptor blockers found no increased risk of death in heart failure (HF) patients taking a high dose of losartan compared with higher doses of candesartan. Low doses of losartan, though, were associated with increased mortality. The study was published in the April 11 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Compared with patients with normal kidney function, chronic dialysis patients may not derive the same cardiovascular benefit from angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) and angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) use, based on a study published April 9 in the Archives of Internal Medicine.