Here’s a roundup of recent clinical study and trial news:
- Survival rates improving for some heart attacks
Some heart attack rates are declining as survival rates improve, according to a news study done at the University of Mass. Medical School. “The results of this study demonstrate recent decreases in the magnitude of STEMI (ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction), slight increases in the incidence rates of NSTEMI (non-ST-segment acute myocardial infarction), and decreases in long-term mortality in patients with STEMI and NSTEMI. Our findings suggest that acute myocardial infarction prevention and treatment efforts have resulted in favorable decreases in the frequency of STEMI and death rates from the major types of acute myocardial infarction,” UMass Medical School Division of Cardiovascular Medicine Departments of Quantitative Health Sciences and Medicine lead investigator Dr. David McManus wrote in the study’s conclusion.
Read more - New England Journal of Medicine publishes initial data on study examining impact of personal genomics
Navigenics, a leading personal genomics company, announced that The New England Journal of Medicine published findings from the Scripps Genomic Health Initiative, a research study sponsored by Scripps Translational Science Institute to assess the behavioral impact of personal genetic testing. The Scripps Genomic Health Initiative provided study participants who were age 18 and older with personalized genetic risk assessments for more than 20 health conditions that may be changed by health screening and lifestyle, including diabetes, heart attack and some forms of cancer. The study was launched in 2008 and will assess changes in participants’ behaviors over a 20-year period. As a co-sponsor of the study, Navigenics provided the genetic testing used in the study. Initial results from the Scripps Genomic Health Initiative were published Jan. 12, 2011 in an article on NEJM’s website.
Read more - Targeted gold nanoparticles and noninvasive radio fields attacking one of the deadliest and least curable types of cancer: pancreatic carcinoma
Kanzius Cancer Research Foundation announces research conducted in the Kanzius/Curley Lab at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center has been published in the December 2010 issue of the American Association of Cancer Research’s Clinical Cancer Research journal. The manuscript illustrates how Drs. Steven Curley and Evan Glazer’s studies prove that radiofrequency fields can treat pancreatic tumors, which today, kill more than 95 percent of diagnosed patients. Studies found that noninvasive radiofrequency ields were effective in controlling relatively large malignant pancreatic tumors. Additionally, this process took place without any injury to surrounding tissue or changes in non-human subject behavior.
Read more - Biosense Webster completes first atrial fibrillation ablation cases in the E.U. using the Thermocool Smarttouch contact force sensing catheter
Biosense Webster Inc., a Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) company, and a global company in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias, announced the successful completion of the first clinical cases with the new THERMOCOOL(R) SMARTTOUCH(TM) Contact Force Sensing Catheter in the European Union, following recent CE-marking of the product.
Read more - Mount Sinai Medical Center of Miami Beach study reports minimally invasive valve surgery superior to standard breastbone-splitting surgery in elderly patients
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery published in its Jan. 2011 issue a study conducted at Mount Sinai Medical Center of Miami Beach reporting the outcomes of minimally invasive valve surgery versus traditional median sternotomy in patients 75 years of age or older. Minimally invasive valve surgery at Mount Sinai is performed through a small, 2-inch incision on the right side of the chest, and this was compared with the same kind of valve surgery done through a breastbone splitting approach. The investigators hypothesized that in elderly patients, a smaller, less traumatic surgery would lead to better results. Minimally invasive valve surgery in elderly patients increased survival, reduced postoperative complications, and shortened length of hospital stay when compared with traditional median sternotomy surgery.
Read more - CIRC trial concludes
ZOLL Medical Corp. (NSDQ:ZOLL), a manufacturer of medical devices and related software solutions, announced the successful conclusion of the ZOLL-sponsored CIRC (Circulation Improving Resuscitation Care) trial. The trial’s Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) closed enrollment when an analysis of the data showed the load-distributing band (AutoPulse® Non-invasive Cardiac Support Pump) to be equivalent to manual chest compressions. The CIRC trial compares the rates of survival to hospital discharge from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of patients treated with the load-distributing band device to those receiving manual CPR. The trial commenced in 2007 and enrolled approximately 4,000 patients. The trial was governed by an independent DSMB that reviewed interim outcome and safety data on seven separate occasions.
Read more - Clinical study using Revolutions Medical’s MRI software tools receives IRB approval
Revolutions Medical Corp. (OTC:RMCP) is happy to report that it has received notice that Investigational Review Board (IRB) approval has been granted this month to the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine for the research project application titled ‘Characterization of Intracranial Hemorrhages by Color MRI Automatic Segmentation,’ by Dr. H. Keith Brown and his collaborators. With this new approval, the team of research scientists and clinicians will now begin collecting and analyzing diagnostic images from cases of intracranial hemorrhages using RevColor™, Rev3D™, and RevDisplay™ MRI software.
Read more - WorldHeart announces Levacor VAD implant at Tampa General Hospital; Enrollment in Bridge-to-Transplant study continues to be slow as WorldHeart makes refinements to Levacor VAD
World Heart Corporation (NSDQ:WHRT), a developer of mechanical circulatory systems, announced that Tampa General Hospital in Tampa, Florida has successfully implanted its first Levacor Ventricular Assist Device (VAD). Tampa General is the sixth implanting site nationwide in the Levacor VAD Bridge-to-Transplant (BTT) Study. This is the 15th implant with the Levacor VAD since the inception of the BTT Study.
Read more - St. Francis Hospital to be part of major nationwide study using a catheter-based aortic valve replacement
Dr. Newell Robinson, Chairman of the Department of Cardiothoracic & Vascular Surgery; Dr. George Petrossian, Director of Interventional Cardiovascular Procedures; Dr. Andrew Berke, interventional cardiologist; and Dr. Roberto Colangelo, cardiothoracic surgeon at St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center® are part of the medical team that is testing a device that may offer new hope for patients with symptomatic, severe aortic stenosis.
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