Bellerophon Therapeutics announced on July 27 that top-line results from a clinical trial found its investigational cardiac implantable device did not improve outcomes compared with placebo.

If patients who experience pulmonary embolism take warfarin for two years, their risk of blood clots and major bleeding are significantly reduced. However, if they stop treatment, the benefits do not last, according to a French multicenter, randomized, double-blind study published this month in JAMA.

Following the release of two websites ranking the best and worst surgeons in the U.S., the American College of Surgeons (ACS) responded by questioning their usefulness.

St. Jude Medical agreed to acquire Thoratec for approximately $3.4 billion to expand its heart failure business. When the deal is finalized, Thoratec shareholders will receive $63.50 per share in cash, a 10 percent increase over Thoratec’s closing price the day before the announcement.

A statewide intervention in North Carolina improved survival and led to an increased number of people receiving bystander and first-responder-initiated CPR and defibrillation following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The efforts were enacted after the American Heart Association issued a policy statement in 2010 asking for regional centers to care for patients who suffer from cardiac arrest.

An intervention designed to improve outcomes in heart failure patients by offering sites feedback on adherence to guidelines did not lead to better quality of care in hospitals, according to a cluster-randomized trial.

Prices for PCIs differ significantly in various parts of the U.S., according to a report released on July 16 from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Within the same metropolitan area, costs varied by as much as 532 percent.

For more than a decade, endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) has been the most popular technique to repair abdominal aortic aneurysms, even as questions were raised about its long-term efficacy. Some patients, however, may not benefit from the frequent imaging, according to a study published online in JAMA Surgery on July 8.