Corindus Vascular Robotics, a leading developer of precision vascular robotics, today announced that in addition to a talk focusing on robotics in the future of the cath lab, cases submitted by users of its CorPath Vascular Robotics System have been accepted for presentation at the Cardiovascular Research Technologies (CRT) conference on February 22 – 25, 2014 in Washington, D.C.

Fourteen-year-old Monroeville, Ala., teenager Christian Quarles is the first state resident to receive the Boston Scientific S-ICD® System, the world’s first and only commercially available subcutaneous implantable defibrillator for the treatment of patients at risk for sudden cardiac arrest.

Patients with critical limb ischemia who use statins may live longer and also be at lower risk for amputation and major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events, a study published in the Feb. 25 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found.

Temporarily interrupting anticoagulation therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) is common and may carry considerable risk for bleeding and strokes, regardless of whether they are treated with rivaroxaban or warfarin, a study published online Feb. 19 in Circulation found. 

The Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute (TCAI) at St. David’s Medical Center will host EP Live—a two-day, intensive educational meeting targeting practicing electrophysiologists from across the globe, electrophysiology (EP) fellows in training, general cardiologists, cardiac surgeons with an interest in treating complex arrhythmias and primary care physicians. The meeting consists of four sections: atrial fibrillation ablation, ventricular tachycardia ablation, devices and new technologies. 

Radiofrequency ablation appears to have a leg up on standard therapy for treating patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF), based on results of the RAAFT-2 trial published in the Feb. 19 issue of JAMA. But both treatments had a high recurrence rate and ablation was far from risk-free.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) may confer only modest psychological and general health benefits, according to a systematic review published Feb. 18 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. 

People with a 10 percent or greater chance of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) in 10 years should be treated with high-intensity statins, the U.K.’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended in draft guidelines published Feb. 12. This is a change from the previous guideline that recommended treatment for people with a 20 percent or greater risk.