Vascular & Endovascular

This channel includes news on non-coronary vascular disease and therapies. These include peripheral artery disease (PAD), abdominal and thoracic aortic aneurysm (AAA and TAA), aortic dissection, pulmonary embolism (PE), critical limb ischemia (CLI), carotid artery and stroke interventions, venous interventions, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and interventional radiology therapies. The focus on most of these therapies is minimally invasive, catheter-based procedures performed in a cath lab.

The most popular selfie spot at ACC 2023. At one point the first day of the conference, there were about 1,0000 attendees waiting in a line about two football fields long to get a photo in front of the logo. A testament to the first post-COVID pandemic ACC and large numbers of returning clinicians to the in person event. ACC.23 had more attendees and vendor booths than in 0re-pandemic 2019. #ACC23 #ACC

ACC.24 to make the business side of cardiology a priority

While the American College of Cardiology's annual meeting has historically had a more clinical focus, presentations at this year's conference in Atlanta will spend much more time looking at the business side of things. 

FDA grants new Elixir Medical Dynamx implant for BTK arterial disease its breakthrough device designation

FDA grants new implant for BTK arterial disease its breakthrough device designation

Elixir Medical's DynamX BTK System is an implantable device that supports BTK vessels after PCI or other interventions.

COVID-19 vaccine vaccination myocarditis heart damage inflammation RSNA imaging radiology cardiology

‘Highly effective’: COVID-19 vaccines reduced risk of heart failure, other cardiovascular complications after infection

Researchers explored data from more than 20 million adults for the new study, tracking both short- and long-term outcomes. 

Kumar Madassery, MD, director of peripheral vascular intervention and critical limb ischemia (CLI) program at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, explains techniques and tools used to restore blood flow to the foot to help foot wounds heal and prevent amputation. He is part of a campaign to raise awareness through the PAD Pulse Alliance.

Interventional techniques can help limit amputations among CLI patients

Kumar Madassery, MD, detailed some of the techniques and tools used to restore blood flow to the foot to help foot wounds heal and prevent amputation.

Biotronik has received the FDA’s breakthrough device designation for its Freesolve below-the-knee resorbable magnesium scaffold (BTK RMS) for patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI).

FDA grants new resorbable scaffold for CLTI its breakthrough device designation

Biotronik's Freesolve technology, which gained CE mark approval in February, is designed to maximize blood flow and minimize the post-implantation risks of stent thrombosis and target lesion revascularization.

Researchers with UVA Health in Charlottesville, Virginia, have received $2.8 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue work on a high-tech material that could boost care for hundreds of thousands of heart patients per year.

Vascular ‘paint’ for heart patients earns researchers $2.8M in funding

“Our approach is like deploying tiny guards to protect blood vessels from going bad, so that there is no need to open the body over and over again to repair them,” one specialist explained. 

semaglutide wegovy Novo Nordisk major adverse cardiovascular events

A big win for Wegovy: Weight loss drug semaglutide first in history to gain FDA approval for reducing heart risks

The FDA made a special announcement about its decision, describing the news as "a major advance for public health."

Nanoflex Robotics, a healthcare technology startup based out of Switzerland, has installed its remote-ready robotics system for neurovascular procedures in the United States for the first time

Swiss startup targets stroke patients with first US install of robotics system for remote vascular interventions

The new-look robotics system can help specialists perform remote mechanical thrombectomies from bedside or as far as thousands of miles away. 

Around the web

Ron Blankstein, MD, professor of radiology, Harvard Medical School, explains the use of artificial intelligence to detect heart disease in non-cardiac CT exams.

Eleven medical societies have signed on to a consensus statement aimed at standardizing imaging for suspected cardiovascular infections.