About midway in its five-year plan, the Million Hearts Initiative may have to pick up the pace if it hopes to achieve its goal for blood pressure control, based on a report released Feb. 14 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Intracranial atherosclerosis may be a risk factor for stroke in whites and may play a role in a greater number of strokes than large-artery atherosclerosis in other vessel beds, according to a study published online Feb. 17 in JAMA Neurology.

Clinical practice guidelines involving dronedarone, a drug used to control arrhythmias in patients with atrial fibrillation, may not be based on the best available evidence, a special communication published online Feb. 17 in JAMA Internal Medicine found.

A team of interventional cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and Memorial Hermann Heart & Vascular Institute-Texas Medical Center performed Texas’ first transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) under conscious sedation using the Edwards Sapien valve.

Aligned with its commitment to provide innovative medical technology for the interventional treatment of peripheral artery disease, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) has initiated the European launch of the TOTAL across crossing catheter, which recently received the CE (Conformité Européene) mark as a tool for improving blood flow through narrowed or occluded lower-extremity arteries, including those in the especially challenging below-the-knee (BTK) vessel bed.

An FDA panel voted 7-2 against approval of The Medicine Company’s antiplatelet drug cangrelor for patients undergoing PCI.

More than 2,000 patients in the U.S. have filed suits against Boehringer Ingelheim over its oral anticoagulant dabigatran (Pradaxa). The company confirmed the number to Reuters after a German newspaper initially reported the total.

Women may be at risk for thrombotic events for up to 12 weeks after delivering a baby, twice as long as previously thought, according to a study published online Feb. 13 in The New England Journal of Medicine. The findings were simultaneously presented at the International Stroke Conference in San Diego.