Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT) adds to the robust data for its IN.PACT® Admiral® drug-coated balloon (DCB)  with the presentation of both its formal cost-effectiveness analysis from the U.S. cohort of the IN.PACT SFA Trial and clinical results from the in-stent restenosis cohort data from Medtronic's IN.PACT Global Study. 

Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT) today announced new clinical data in interventional treatments for aortic and peripheral vascular diseases in a late-breaking trial session at Vascular Interventional Advances (VIVA) 2015.

Every year, more than 795,000 Americans suffer a stroke—with 665,000 people surviving the episode. The annual cost of stroke in the U.S. tops $33.6 billion (Circulation. 2015 ;e29-322.) and one out of six Americans will have a stroke in their lifetime. Stroke is our leading cause of disability.

The stars appear to be aligned for drugs that reverse the effect of novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs). Regulators in the U.S. have moved them forward, anxious to provide emergency physicians an antidote in cases of life-threatening bleeding. But the ultimate beneficiaries may be patients who need but don’t take anticoagulants because of bleeding fears.

Prompt response to cardiac arrest is critical; seconds lost reduce the chances for patient recovery. While other rescue procedures like CPR do help and buy rescuers time, when a shock is needed, it’s imperative for the equipment to work well and, in some cases, provide rescuers with feedback.

The University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, already a major national referral center, has recently undergone a significant culture shift. The change began when Robb MacLellan, MD, joined as chief of cardiology of UW Medicine Regional Heart Center in 2011.

Growth seeded the need for a dedicated PCI program at Saratoga Hospital that went live in January along with a complete technology overhaul: cath lab, hemodynamic monitoring, echocardiography and a fully integrated cardiovascular information system. The PCI program, close to 100 interventions later, is now considered a jewel of the county and a model for other facilities considering a technology refresh.

Once just a feature of science fiction, robotics is now an integral part of the current healthcare landscape. With the advent of robotic-assisted percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), interventional cardiology may be poised to experience a tectonic shift.