Before you cross that bridge, consider: A fresh look at the data from ORBIT-AF suggests that bridging oral anticoagulation instead of temporary cessation for a procedure may put patients at greater risk for bleeding or adverse events.

What, if anything, went wrong in the SYMPLICITY HTN-3 trial will probably remain up for debate, but a post hoc analysis may help to keep subsequent trials on the right path.

Consider it one more reason to make that surgery a quick one. Researchers found that the longer a surgery goes, the more risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) for the patient. 

ZOLL Medical is buying the assets from Philips’ InnerCool temperature management business, which includes several products cleared for use in the U.S.

Lombard Medical, Inc., a medical device company focused on Endovascular Aneurysm Repair (EVAR) of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs), today presented efficacy and safety data from the two-year follow up of the U.S. PYTHAGORAS pre-marketing approval (PMA) trial of Aorfix™, the first and only endovascular stent graft with global approvals for the treatment of patients with aortic neck angulations up to 90 degrees.

New data on the investigational antidote idarucizumab show that it can reverse the effect of the oral anticoagulant Pradaxa (dabigatran etexilate) on both blood coagulation and the blood clotting mechanism. In a study in healthy volunteers, administration of idarucizumab after initial pre-treatment with Pradaxa was shown to restore systemic blood coagulation and re-enable the formation of fibrin, a key component of the blood clotting mechanism. This is the first time that an antidote to a novel oral anticoagulant (NOAC) has demonstrated such an effect. The findings were presented during the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2014. The antidote is still under investigation and has not yet been approved for clinical use.

A subgroup analysis eventually may offer answers in a trial that assessed once-daily, low-dose aspirin to prevent atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in Japan, according to a study published online Nov. 17 in JAMA. The trial was terminated early due to futility.

The American Heart Association today presented its Research Achievement Award for 2014 to Shaun R. Coughlin, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, “for transcendent discoveries of cellular signaling mechanisms that control blood platelet activation and clot formation, findings that have led to a new medical therapy for preventing heart attacks and strokes.”