While recent discussion has centered on the lower threshold for hypertension (130/80 millimeters of mercury) and what it means for clinical practice, many of the implications for the new guidelines rely on the assumption that blood pressure is being measured correctly in the first place.

DUBLIN — November 20, 2017 — Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT) today announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval and U.S. commercial launch for its portfolio of Azure(TM) pacemakers with BlueSync(TM)technology.

A new real-world analysis of adults with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease (CVD) shows adult patients who initiated therapy with INVOKANA® (canagliflozin) or another sodium glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) had a 43 percent reduced risk for all-cause mortality (ACM) and hospitalization for heart failure (HHF) after an average of 1.6 years, compared to similar patients who initiated treatment with a non-SGLT2i medication using an intent-to-treat (ITT) approach.

A tool designed to predict the risk of MI and cardiac arrest (MICA) after noncardiac surgery in older patients works significantly better than two widely used models that aren’t age-specific, according to a study published Nov. 16 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

While 71 percent of heart patients are prescribed statins after hospitalization for heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and peripheral artery disease, just 37.4 percent retain that medication regimen a year later, researchers in Salt Lake City reported this week.

Owning a dog could be linked to a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in single-person households and lower all-cause mortality in the general population, a 12-year study of Swedish canine owners suggests.

Scientists have made the first attempt to edit a man’s genes inside his body, permanently changing his DNA in an effort to cure a metabolic disease called Hunter syndrome.

SILVER SPRING, Md., Nov. 16, 2017 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Hemlibra (emicizumab-kxwh) to prevent or reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes in adult and pediatric patients with hemophilia A who have developed antibodies called Factor VIII (FVIII) inhibitors.