EKOS Corporation, a BTG International group company, today announces the start of patient enrollment for the ACCelerated ThrombolySiS for Post-Thrombotic Syndrome using the EKOS System (ACCESS PTS) Study.

Moving toward U.S. market introduction of its novel medical device to treat peripheral artery disease, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) today announced that it recently submitted the final module of its pre-market approval (PMA) application for the IN.PACT Admiral drug-coated balloon to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The application includes data that demonstrates superior clinical outcomes compared with conventional angioplasty, with the lowest rates of repeat procedures (target lesion revascularization) and the highest rate of uninterrupted blood flow (primary patency) at 12 months ever reported for the interventional treatment of peripheral artery disease.

Women diagnosed with peripheral artery disease (PAD) were more likely to experience complications during peripheral vascular interventions than male counterparts, a study published June 17 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found. Nonetheless, both sexes had similar rates of procedural success.

Boehringer Ingelheim today announces that Pradaxa (dabigatran etexilate) has been approved by the European Commission for the treatment and prevention of recurrence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Pradaxa for DVT and PE patients earlier this year. DVT and PE can be very dangerous; almost one in three PE patients dies within three months and four out of 10 patients suffer a repeat blood clot within 10 years of the first.

Cook Medical launched its Zilver PTX Drug-Eluting Peripheral Stent in Canada at the Canadian Interventional Radiology Association (CIRA) meeting in Montreal, Canada. It’s the first drug-coated stent in Canada indicated to treat peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in the superficial femoral artery (SFA).

A presentation by principal investigator Eric J. Dippel, MD, of Genesis Heart Institute in Davenport, Iowa, at the annual New Cardiovascular Horizons (NCVH) conference in New Orleans last week demonstrated significant procedural advantage of laser atherectomy in the largest randomized trial of atherectomy ever conducted.

About two in three hospitals certified by Medicare to provide carotid artery stenting (CAS) procedures had higher than average risks for mortality over a two-year period. These findings, published online June 3 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, outline a way to review hospitals to determine which require more scrutiny prior to recertification.

Stroke survival rates in obese and overweight patients may not be as paradoxical as earlier studies indicate. Researchers in Denmark suggested in a study published June 2 in JAMA Neurology that it might be a combination of comorbid conditions, severity and selection bias.