Despite an FDA safety alert in July, physicians are still using the Lariat suture delivery device, STAT reports. SentreHeart CEO Russell Seiber, who founded the company in 2005, defended the Lariat device in an interview.

After 30 days of follow-up, 92.7 percent of patients with atrial fibrillation at high-risk for stroke who were implanted with the Watchman device did not have any serious adverse events, according to an analysis of an international registry. In addition, 98.5 percent of patients had a successful implantation, which was defined as deployment and release of the device into the left atrial appendage.

Six months after implantation with an investigational leadless intracardiac transcatheter pacing system from Medtronic, 96 percent of patients did not have system-related or procedure-related major complications, according to a prespecified interim analysis of a prospective, multicenter study.

Soon after a study appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine on Oct. 5 finding potential issues with bioprosthetic aortic valves, the results generated national attention, causing some to question the use of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) treatment.

Only a handful of patients receive artificial hearts each year, but The Verge reports the device's manufacturers are hoping they can one day replace real hearts. Artificial hearts are now used as life support for people waiting for transplants.

Although the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Oct. 30 that it had settled with 457 hospitals for allegedly improperly implanting implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), it said it will to continue to investigate hospitals and health systems that fail to comply with the ICD implantation rules.

Patients with acute coronary syndromes who underwent an early invasive strategy had a lower risk of cardiac death and hospitalization for MI compared with those who received a conservative approach, according to a retrospective cohort study.

An observational study involving Japanese patients undergoing PCI found the use of intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) therapy was associated with a significantly higher risk of in-hospital mortality.