The Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation (MHIF) announced today the first implant of the world's smallest pacemaker at the Minneapolis Heart Institute. The device was implanted as part of a global clinical trial and the procedure was the first of its kind in the Midwest.

The FDA rebuffed The Medicines Company in its quest for approval of the antiplatelet agent cangrelor.

Orlando Regional Medical Center is the first hospital in Florida to utilize the Corindus CorPath System.

Medtronic, Inc. today announced CE (Conformité Européenne) Mark receipt and the European launch of its newest cardiac resynchronization therapy-pacemaker, Viva CRT-P. The Viva CRT-P is not approved for sale in the United States.

Abbott today announced that its revolutionary, catheter-based MitraClip(r) therapy has received Health Canada approval, providing physicians in Canada with a breakthrough treatment option that can significantly improve symptoms, disease progression and quality of life for certain people with a heart condition called mitral regurgitation (MR).

Heartware International has issued back-to-back warnings about its ventricular assist device (VAD), with the most recent notice involving batteries in the HeartWare Ventricular Assist System.

Some like it hot; some like it cold. Whether by radio frequency or cryoballoon, ablation interventions have been edging out medical therapy as an efficacious treatment for atrial fibrillation in some patients. But that doesn’t always translate into success, clinically or financially. Costs, recurrences and lack of proof that the procedures offer a stroke benefit pose challenges.

I shared a cab ride with a cardiologist training in electrophysiology while I was attending the ACC14 in Washington, D.C. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.