Children receiving blood transfusions for sickle cell anemia saw a 56 percent reduction in the risk for stroke in a study published Aug. 21 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Direct Flow Medical, Inc., a transcatheter heart valve innovator focused on improving patient outcomes, today announced it has received the CE Mark (Conformité Européenne) for a 23mm sized valve as part of its Direct Flow Medical Transcatheter Aortic Valve System, expanding the patient population that can be treated with its technology. The company also announced receipt of the CE Mark for implantation of all of its valves without the use of contrast media, protecting patients from kidney injury during transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).

Boston Scientific Corporation and ASAHI INTECC have formalized plans to develop a new, differentiated fractional flow reserve (FFR) wire.  The joint project focuses on creating a device intended to improve handling compared to existing FFR wires.

Compared with heparin, bivalirudin increases the risk of major adverse cardiac events but reduces the risk of bleeding to varying degrees in patients undergoing PCI, a meta-analysis published in the Aug. 16 issue of The Lancet concluded.

Almost one-third of patients who visit the emergency department for acute heart failure will return two or more times within a year, results published online Aug. 19 showed. Could readmissions penalties exacerbate the problem?

The FDA placed a Class I recall on the Diamondback 360 Peripheral Orbital Atherectomy System because the sheath may fracture during use.

Cook Medical has enrolled the first patient in the clinical study in China of its Zilver PTX Drug Eluting Peripheral Stent. The case was performed by one of the study’s principal investigators, Prof. Peng Liu, M.D., at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing.

The IN-TIME study showed an improvement in clinical outcomes in patients with heart failure who were telemonitored, according to results published online Aug. 16 in The Lancet.