New oral blood thinners are equally effective in reducing the risk of intracranial hemorrhage in patients with atrial fibrillation and can be considered first-line therapy for patients at high risk for brain bleeds, a review published online Oct. 28 in JAMA Neurology found using two different types of statistical analysis.

AngioDynamics (Nasdaq:ANGO), a leading provider of innovative, minimally invasive medical devices for vascular access, surgery, peripheral vascular disease and oncology, today announced EU CE Mark approval for its AngioVac venous drainage cannula and cardiopulmonary bypass circuit for use during extracorporeal bypass for up to six hours. Under the CE Mark approval the AngioVac cannula is also approved for removal of fresh, soft thrombi or emboli.

Aggressive medical management maintained its advantage over intracranial stenting in a long-term analysis of SAMMPRIS trial data. The absolute risk reduction from medical treatment was 9 percent at three years, according to results published online Oct. 26 in The Lancet.

When determining which interventional method to use in patients who need carotid revascularization, a meta-analysis published online Oct. 23 in JAMA Surgery found that patient age should be a major consideration.

While age-adjusted death rates from stroke have decreased worldwide, the numbers of people who have a stroke every year, who survive strokes, deaths related to strokes and disability-adjusted life years related to strokes have increased, especially in low- and middle-income nations. Most of the stroke burden has also shifted to adults younger than 75. These findings were published online Oct. 24 in The Lancet.

Stroke is the second leading cause of death in Los Angeles County and the fourth in the U.S. In order to cut those numbers, it's imperative that new treatments be developed and refined for stroke prevention, acute therapy and recovery after stroke.

AccessClosure, Inc., the market leader in extravascular closure devices, announced today an exclusive agreement with Ostial Corporation to distribute the Flash Ostial System Dual Balloon Angioplasty Catheter in the United States. The Flash Ostial System is designed to help overcome the challenges of aorto-ostial stenting and compliments the Mynx® Product Family of Vascular Closure Devices to expand AccessClosure’s portfolio.

The Cardiovascular Care Group (TCVCG), announced today it has united with The Vein Institute of New Jersey to offer patients access to an expanded team of highly skilled clinicians with outstanding results and additional locations throughout Central and Northern New  Jersey. Reinforcing its commitment to producing great outcomes for the millions of Americans who have varicose and spider veins, the merger increases the number of board–certified physicians available to patients further enabling The Vein Institute at TCVCG to meet the growing demand for its services.