The FDA and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will conduct a parallel review of Symplicity, a renal denervation system for treatment-resistant hypertension. The review allows CMS to begin consideration for national coverage determination while the FDA completes its review of the safety and efficacy.

A bedside device that can calibrate subtle eye and head movements may be key to correctly diagnosing strokes in patients who present with dizziness, nausea, nystagmus, unsteady gait and head movement intolerance.

Wyoming hospitals that achieve accreditation by nationally recognized accrediting bodies for care of STEMI and stroke will now receive public recognition from the Wyoming Health Department. In what an American Heart Association (AHA) official called “a great first step,” Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead signed a bill requiring the public recognition on Feb. 28.

Massachusetts General Hospital launched the Mass General Institute for Heart, Vascular and Stroke Care, which is seeking to integrate cardiovascular and cerebrovascular care. Michael R. Jaff, DO, chair of the Institute speaks to the benefits and challenges of approaching patients in a new way.

Dabigatran proved to be an effective extended treatment for venous thromboembolism, with a lower risk of bleeding than warfarin but a higher risk than placebo in two randomized, double-blind studies. Still, it flirted with the upper limit of the predefined noninferiority margin in one study.

The FDA has approved Lombard Medical Technologies' Aorfix, a stent graft for the endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs), for commercial sale in the U.S.

Researchers conducting an observational study of participants in randomized stroke trials have concluded that many stroke patients for whom thrombolysis is contraindicated may benefit from the treatment.

Are there treatments for events such as intracerebral hemorrhage that offer better outcomes, perhaps at a lower cost, than standard medical care? That question and others are being pondered this week at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference in Honolulu.