Roughly four in five Americans with cardiac implantable electronic device infections don’t receive recommended treatment, according to a Philips-funded study out of Duke University. The large-scale, real-world analysis of CMS data also found that complete hardware extraction within 6 days was associated with a 42.9% lower risk of death than among patients who did not […]
American College of Cardiology
Studies show that iRhythm’s Zio detects AFib early, prevents hospital admissions
iRhythm Technologies (Nasdaq:IRTC) announced results of multiple studies supporting the use of its Zio technology in detecting AFib. San Francisco-based iRhythm presented the results of three clinical research studies at The American College of Cardiology’s 71st Annual Scientific Session & Expo. According to a news release, the studies further validate Zio as an option for […]
5 of the latest cardiac tech insights out of ACC.21
The American College of Cardiology’s 70th Annual Scientific Session has produced some positive news about some controversial cardiac tech. Drug-coated stents, which a 2018 study linked to late-stage death, were shown to be non-inferior to non-drug-coated stents in patients with peripheral arterial disease. And a new study of renal denervation that used a different methodology […]
Edwards Lifesciences tricuspid valve reduced leakage in 98% of patients
Edwards Lifesciences‘s Evoque tricuspid valve replacement system reduces tricuspid heart valve leakage to non-traceable or mild leakage in 98% of patients, according to a new study reported at the American College of Cardiology’s 70th Annual Scientific Session. Evoque is designed to replace native tricuspid valves without open-heart surgery. The valve is implanted using a minimally […]
Medical societies issue ‘urgent letter’ on racial violence
A trio of medical societies issued an urgent letter to denounce the racism and violence unfolding in the wake of George Floyd’s death in police custody. The letter, dated May 30 (five days after Floyd was killed in Minneapolis), was issued by the Association of Black Cardiologists and its cardiovascular partners, the American Heart Association […]
Report: FDA has nonpublic list of TAVR-related deaths
The FDA has yet another private listing of device-related deaths, this one for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) devices that include Medtronic’s (NYSE:MDT) CoreValve and Edwards Lifesciences’ (NYSE:EW) Sapien 3 lines, according to a new report by Kaiser Health News. Both devices were initially indicated for patients who were too frail or ill for open-heart surgery, but the FDA subsequently approved […]
FDA aims to publicly report information on Watchman-related deaths
This article has been updated with comments from the American College of Cardiology. The FDA said Thursday that it plans to make public information on four patient deaths linked to Boston Scientific’s (NYSE:BSX) Watchman heart implant once it receives that information from the company. The agency said it has asked the sponsor of a Watchman […]
Hacking pacemakers is good TV, but is it for real?
Worry less about bad people hacking pacemakers and other cardiac devices. Worry more about them disrupting hospitals’ communications networks. That’s the major message out of the American College of Cardiology’s Electrophysiology Council, which published an article about cardiac devices earlier this month in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The idea that hackers might […]
UPDATE: Medical societies update stroke guidelines
A bevy of cardiac medical societies updated their guidelines for stroke treatment yesterday to take into account new devices and technology, including left atrial appendage occlusion devices, stent retrievers and thrombectomy devices. The American College of Cardiology, Heart Rhythm Society and Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions have updated their guidelines to include the benefits of left […]
Widowmaker: Stents as safe as open heart surgery in left main artery disease
A long-term Korean study found stents as safe as open heart surgery in treating blockages of a coronary artery known as the widowmaker, showing that stented patients did not run a significantly higher risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke.
ACC 2015 Roundup: CTA no benefit, Abbott’s MitraClip, Philips’ IntelliSpace
A large clinical trial comparing computed-tomography angiography with functional testing found no benefit to clinical outcomes with CTA, which also exposes patients to large doses of radiation.
