Patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) who received 24-week treatment of ramipril showed significant improvement in pain-free and maximum walking times in a randomized clinical trial. While the results are “particularly notable,” the author of an accompanying editorial cautioned that they may apply to a limited patient population.

In a randomized trial of patients with acute ischemic stroke, patients receiving endovascular treatment fared no better at 90 days than patients who underwent intravenous thrombolytic therapy. These results were published online ahead of print Feb. 6 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A multicenter, randomized, double-blind trial of thromboprophylaxis efficacy has found that patients hospitalized with acute medical illness were less likely to develop deep vein thrombosis or thromboembolism when treated with oral rivaroxaban for 35 days than those who were treated with subcutaneous enoxaparin for 10 days and oral placebo for 35 days. However, the patients treated with rivaroxaban experienced more bleeding events. The MAGELLAN study was published online Feb. 7 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Edwards Lifesciences, a developer of heart valves and hemodynamic monitoring, has reported increased net income for the 2012 fiscal year and the 2012 fourth quarter, both of which ended Dec. 31, 2012.

What we have here, may well be a failure of communication. In the very serious context of end-of-life decisions for patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs), researchers have found a gap in patients’ understanding of harms and benefits of their devices and perceived outcomes.

The use of supplemental calcium may have an adverse effect on the cardiovascular health of men but not women, according to a prospective cohort study that was published online Feb. 4 in the Journal of the American Medical Association: Internal Medicine.

Danish researchers have determined that ABO blood type, especially when combined with certain genetic mutations, constitutes the most significant risk factor for formation of venous thromboembolism. The findings were published Feb. 4 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Biodegradable polymer biolimus-eluting stents (Nobori, Terumo) are as safe and efficacious as the current standard of a thin-strut everolimus-eluting stent with a durable biocompatible polymer (Xience V or Prime, Abbott/Promus, Boston Scientific), according to a prospective, randomized, controlled COMPARE II trial.