September 24, 2009
Results From Landmark PROSPECT Trial Demonstrate the Ability of Volcano's VH® IVUS Imaging to Identify Plaques Most Likely to Cause Heart Attacks
PROSPECT results presented today include the landmark finding that angiographically mild lesions with certain morphologic features on grayscale and VH IVUS present with a 3 year cardiac event rate of 17%, versus other morphologies (indistinguishable by conventional angiograms) with three year event risks of less than 1%. (Read more...)

September 24, 2009
Prilosec and Plavix Together Again!
Late Breaking News form the TCT 2009. The COGENT Trial resolves the controversy over Proton Pump Inhibitors and Plavix. The result: no interaction was found between the two and it is safe for patients to take their Prilosec with their Plavix! (Read more...)

September 22, 2009
SRO at the Wrist Angioplasty Seminar -- Transradial is Hot
From The Editor's Blog: I'm at the TCT in San Francisco, standing outside "The Transradial Angiography and Intervention Seminar" -- because (and a hundred or so cardiologists) can't fit in the room! (Read more...)

September 17, 2009
Angioplasty Comes Home to San Francisco (Video)
From The Editor's Blog: Next week thousands of interventional cardiologists will gather in San Francisco for the TCT, the largest meeting about angioplasty, stents and related procedures in the world. But what most of these cardiologists don't realize is that they will be coming home -- "home" being where the first coronary angioplasties were done. (Read more...)

September 16, 2009
Training for Transradial Angioplasty: Get On The Wait List
Courses in the transradial approach to PCI have been difficult to find, but as word about transradial's benefits spreads, a new problem has arisen -- attendance at these courses fills up even before the dates are announced. (Read more...)

September 16, 2009
Interview with Sunil V. Rao, MD, FACC
The Director of the Cardiac Cath Lab at the Durham VA Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina and author of a landmark study about transradial, discusses the current status of this approach in the U.S. and its growth. (Read more...)

September 16, 2009
Transradial Angioplasty at TCT
From The Editor's Blog: I've previously complained about how the national cardiology meetings have barely mentioned a technique used 50% of the time in Canada, Europe and Asia. But this year's TCT is stepping up and has even scheduled an entire afternoon symposium (Tuesday, September 22) devoted to transradial. (Read more...)

September 16, 2009
Transradial Angioplasty Activities at TCT 2009
This year's Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting in San Francisco will host a number of symposia and workshops highlighting the growing use of the transradial (wrist) approach to angioplasty, stenting and diagnostic catheterizations. The centerpiece of the weeklong activities is "The Transradial Angiography and Intervention Seminar" comprising an entire afternoon with twenty-three separate presentations by global leaders in the field. (Read more...)

September 15, 2009
Drug-Eluting Stents: Looking Ahead
From The Editor's Blog: During the first two days (September 21-22) of this year's TCT, the meeting will be hosting the "DES Summit" -- more than 16 hours of presentations -- over 100 separate short talks on every aspect of drug-eluting stents, from safety to antiplatelet therapy to biodegradable stents to drug-eluting balloons and the use of these devices in patients from stable to STEMI (heart attack). (Read more...)

September 15, 2009
Drug-Eluting Stent Summit Announced for TCT 2009 Meeting in San Francisco
Over 16 hours of presentations on drug-eluting stents will kick off next week's TCT meeting, billed as the largest global medical and scientific symposium dedicated to interventional cardiovascular medicine. The annual week-long meeting is being held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco this year, and will return to its regular venue in Washington DC in 2010. (Read more...)

September 13, 2009
Terumo Interventional Systems Announces Launch of Glidewire Advantage™ Peripheral Guidewire
The Glidewire Advantage Peripheral Guidewire combines Terumo’s well-established Glidewire construction on the distal 25 cm with a unique spiral PTFE coating on the proximal end. The result is a guidewire that easily navigates and crosses the lesion, while also providing the operator with excellent tactile feel and support for secure device placement. These two wire sections are seamlessly fused together using Terumo’s proprietary DuoCore™ Technology. (Read more...)

September 13, 2009
Terumo Interventional Systems Announces Line Expansion of Its Pinnacle® Destination® Guiding Sheaths
The introduction of the 8F Destination Guiding Sheath extends the range of interventional procedures that can be performed by this market-leading product to include atherectomy and stent graft procedures. The Pinnacle Destination Guiding Sheath line supports virtually all applicable diagnostic and interventional procedures, offering a comprehensive range of French sizes (5F – 8F), lengths and tip shapes as well as two different valve types. (Read more...)

September 10, 2009
Volcano Corp. Announces Events at TCT Meeting
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC), a leader in the fields of Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS) and Functional Measurement (FM) today announced a wide variety of events taking place at this year's Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting in San Francisco. A wide spectrum of activities will demonstrate how these technologies can improve the results obtained from angioplasty and stenting, and includes late-breaking clinical trials, symposia with panels of experts, live case demonstrations and an investor event. (Read more...)

August 21, 2009
Interview with David E. Kandzari, MD
Dr. David E. Kandzari is Director of Interventional Cardiology Research at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, California. His career in interventional cardiology has been unique in that he has had the opportunity to be involved in drug-eluting stent issues from multiple perspectives: academic, clinical, regulatory and industry. In this exclusive interview, Dr. Kandzari shares his thoughts on the current status of drug-eluting stents and the outstanding safety and clinical issues. (Read more...)

August 20, 2009
Transradial Angioplasty Training Course Announced for Scranton, Pennsylvania
To help meet the need for training of cardiologists and staff in the technique of transradial access for angioplasty and stenting, Pennsylvania-based Drs. Samir B. Pancholy and Ian Gilchrist have organized a one-day training course in the method. The didactic course will be held on October 10, 2009 at the Hilton Scranton & Conference Center. (Read more...)

July 29, 2009
Is Radioactive Isotope Shortage an Opportunity for CT Scans to Shine?
From the Editor's Blog: Maybe the shortage of technetium, used in nuclear stress tests, will increase the utilization of CT Angiography. (Read more...)

July 28, 2009
Transradial Wrist Angioplasty Safe and Effective in Treatment of Heart Attack
For patients having the most serious form of heart attack, a new study from the United Kingdom concludes that primary angioplasty performed from the wrist "is safe, with comparable outcomes to a femoral approach and a lower risk of vascular complications." (Read more...)

July 27, 2009
Volcano Corporation Schedules Second Quarter Conference Call, Webcast
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC) will hold a conference call to discuss its financial results and operating activities open to all interested parties at 2 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time (5 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time), Tuesday, August 4, hosted by Scott Huennekens, president and chief executive officer, and John Dahldorf, chief financial officer. (Read more...)

July 10, 2009
Prasugrel / Effient Approved by FDA
After a year-and-a-half of review, amid concerns over potentially serious bleeding complications, the FDA today approved Eli Lilly's blood thinner Prasugrel (it will be marketed in the U.S. as Effient). (Read more...)

July 8, 2009
Volcano Achieves Major Milestone in Japan Direct Sales Initiative With Signing of Termination Agreement With Goodman
Volcano Corporation said today it has signed a termination agreement with its largest distributor in Japan, Goodman Company, Ltd. This agreement, which took effect today, will enable Volcano to accelerate its transition to a direct sales force in the market to support its intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and Functional Measurement (FM) consoles and disposables, as well as products currently in development. (Read more...)

July 5, 2009
Stents: An Insider's Look
From the Editor's Blog: I recently talked at length with Dr. Giulio Guagliumi of Bergamo, Italy about his extensive work with one of the newest intravascular imaging modalities that looks inside the coronary artery: Optical Coherence Tomography, or OCT. He's been using the light-based technique to examine implanted stents and determine whether or not healing has occurred; that is, whether the stent struts have been covered over by a layer of endothelial cells. (Read more...)

July 5, 2009
Interview with Giulio Guagliumi, MD About Optical Coherence Tomography and Stents
Dr. Giulio Guagliumi, an internationally recognized leader in the use of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) in the coronary arteries, practices in the Cardiovascular Department of Ospedali Riuniti di Bergamo in Bergamo, Italy. Dr. Guagliumi has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and is principal investigator in several clinical trials assessing the performance of stents inside the coronary artery, using OCT imaging. In this interview, he discusses the dynamic changes occurring with this technology. (Read more...)

June 22, 2009
Texas Governor Signs Landmark Early Heart Disease Detection Screening Legislation
Today Governor Rick Perry of Texas signed the nation's first preventive cardiovascular screening bill for early detection of coronary artery disease. The legislation, which will take effect on September 1, requires Texas insurers to pay up to $200 for a either a non-contrast computed tomography (CT) scan measuring coronary artery calcification, commonly known as a Calcium scoring exam, or ultrasonography for measuring carotid intima-media thickness and plaque. (Read more...)

May 28, 2009
Heart Experts: Texas Gov. Perry Can Save Thousands of Lives, Reduce Healthcare Costs
Both houses of the Texas Legislature have passed HR 1290 which mandate that Texas insurers must cover simple Calcium Scoring and ultrasound tests for the early detection of coronary artery disease. The leaders of SHAPE (Society for Heart Attack Prevention and Eradication) which count among them some of the leading cardiologists in both the U.S. and Europe now hope that Governor Rick Perry will sign the bill, making Texas the first state to make available what these experts feel is a critically important diagnostic test. (Read more...)

May 26, 2009
Texas Senate Passes Calcium Scoring Bill
On Saturday May 23, the Texas State Senate passed the Texas Heart Attack Preventive Screening Bill (HR 1290) by a vote of 26-5. This is significant because it mandates insurers in Texas to cover Calcium Scoring, the first legislature to do so. (Read more...)

May 26, 2009
Women's Heart Health at Stanford
In my recent interview with Dr. Jennifer Tremmel, Clinical Director of Women's Heart Health at Stanford, we discussed some of the ways in which heart disease manifests itself differently in women than in men, and how treatment for women has been skewed by the historical context. (Read more...)

May 25, 2009
Meeting to Highlight Use of New Imaging Technologies for Guiding Stent and Angioplasty Procedures
This week marks one of the first courses to focus exclusively on the range of innovative intravascular imaging and measurement technologies that have been gaining in use over the past couple of years. "OCT, IVUS, FFR: When, Where, How" will be held on May 28 and 29 in Bergamo, Italy. The course will utilize the newest innovations in Optical Coherence Tomography(OCT), Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS), Virtual Histology (VH) and Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) and how they can be used to optimize percutaneous procedures, such as angioplasty and stenting. (Read more...)

May 20, 2009
Interview with Jennifer Tremmel, MD
Dr. Tremmel is Director of Transradial Interventions at Stanford Medical Center and Clinical Director of Women's Heart Health at Stanford Clinic. Within 6 months of learning the radial technique, she was doing 100% radial angioplasties, reducing complications from bleeding to near zero. (Read more...)

May 19, 2009
Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) Presentations by Volcano at EuroPCR 2009
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC) today highlights its technology leadership position in the emerging field of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) at the EuroPCR conference in Barcelona, Spain. Volcano's wholly owned subsidiary, Axsun, has developed what we believe to be a truly revolutionary new class of ultra-miniaturized external cavity lasers that are expected to power the highest performance OCT systems for intracoronary and other medical imaging segments. (Read more...)

May 19, 2009
New Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS) Study of Underexpanded Stents, Thrombosis and Restenosis
A study, published in the current issue of JACC Interventions, details 120 drug-eluting stent cases as viewed by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) in order to examine characteristics that may lead to in-stent restenosis (ISR) or stent thrombosis. The researchers found that in cases of thrombosis, the proximal parts of many of the stents were inadequately expanded. An accompanying editorial suggests greater use of IVUS and more attention to detail can reduce the number of these adverse clinical events. (Read more...)

May 18, 2009
Medtronic to Participate in the Piper Jaffray Post-EuroPCR Summit
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) today announced it will participate in the Piper Jaffray PCR Post-Op Summit on Friday, May 22, 2009, in London. Scott R. Ward Scott Ward, President, CardioVascular Medtronic Scott Ward, president of the CardioVascular business and senior vice president at Medtronic, will speak to the attendees of the conference at 8 a.m. British Summer Time (2 a.m. Central Daylight Time). (Read more...)

May 18, 2009
Volcano Announces Worldwide Exclusive Distribution Agreement With Lumen Biomedical for Xtract™ Thrombus Aspiration Catheter
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC) today announced an exclusive worldwide distribution agreement to initiate the formal launch of the Xtract™ thrombus aspiration catheter, manufactured by Lumen Biomedical. The Xtract thrombus aspiration catheter is available for immediate sale in the U.S. and Europe. This marks Volcano's entry into what some believe is a $70+ million aspiration market. (Read more...)

May 16, 2009
Innovative Stent Manufacturer XTENT Plans To Close Business After Failing to Find Buyer
XTENT (Nasdaq: XTNT), maker of an innovative stent that received the European CE Mark just two months ago, is closing its doors after failing to find a partner or buyer, a goal first announced in January. The Company's Board of Directors voted yesterday that "it is in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders to liquidate the Company's assets and to dissolve the Company." The plan is subject to stockholder approval. (Read more...)

May 13, 2009
Volcano Corporation Presentation at JMP Conference to be Webcast
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC) said today that it will be participating in the Eighth Annual JMP Securities Research Conference on Monday, May 18. The presentation by John Dahldorf, chief financial officer, will begin at 3:00 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time (6:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time). (Read more...)

May 6, 2009
Plavix PPI Study Released
From the Editor's Blog, what the newly released Medco Study of Plavix and Proton Pump Inhibitors means for physicians and patients. (Read more...)

May 6, 2009
Heartburn Drugs Increase Cardiac Events for Stent Patients by 50%
Most stent patients are required to take the antiplatelet drug clopidogrel (Plavix) for at least a year to prevent blood clots inside the stent. A new study, presented today at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 32nd Annual Scientific Sessions, showed that the beneficial effects of Plavix are compromised by common drugs, used for the treatment of heartburn and ulcers: the combined risk of hospitalization for heart attack, stroke and other serious cardiovascular illnesses was increased by 50%. (Read more...)

May 6, 2009
Volcano Corporation Presentation at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Conference to be Webcast
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC) said today that it will be participating in the Bank of America and Merrill Lynch 2009 Health Care Conference on Thursday, May 14. The presentation by Scott Huennekens, president and chief executive officer, will begin at 11:20 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time (8:20 a.m., Pacific Daylight Time). (Read more...)

May 5, 2009
Volcano Reports 1st Quarter Revenues of $49 Million; IVUS and FM Businesses Grew 24%
Volcano Corp. (VOLC) reports a greater loss over the same period in 2008, due mainly to lower margins and the strength of the dollar. However, revenue of intravascular ultrasound and functional measurement products grew 24%. (Read more...)

May 4, 2009
Effectiveness in Stenting
As Volcano's CEO Scott Huennekens writes in an op-ed piece, there's a whole toolbox of devices and techniques that are candidates for "comparative effectiveness" in that they may be able to increase the success of interventional procedures -- or even target patients who need these procedures more accurately. (Read more...)

May 1, 2009
Comparative Effectiveness Research and The Patient
More than a billion dollars has been allocated to "Comparative Effectiveness Research" in the U.S. Federal government's stimulus package, yet the term continues to be confused with "cost-effectiveness". They are not the same, and in an attempt to clarify the difference, Angioplasty.Org will be posting a number of articles and interviews in the near future about these issues: specifically how they impact the field of interventional cardiology. (Read more...)

April 27, 2009
Volcano Corporation Schedules First Quarter Conference Call, Webcast
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC), a leader in the development, manufacturing and sales of products for the diagnosis and treatment of coronary and peripheral artery disease, today announced that it will report its operating results for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 on Tuesday, May 5. (Read more...)

April 21, 2009
CT Scans for Strokes
Today's Wall Sreet Journal discusses the controversy over the use of CT scans to diagnose and triage treatment for stroke victims. (Read more...)

April 18, 2009
Plavix and PPIs: Update
A reader writes in about Plavix and proton pump inhibitors to get the latest info -- there is some, and soon there will be more when the SCAI meets in Las Vegas next month. (Read more...)

April 17, 2009
Transradial Angioplasty at ACC.09
A summary of all studies concerning transradial access that were presented during the American College of Cardiology 58th Annual Scientific Session held March 29-31, 2009. The take-away message from these studies was that the radial approach is comparable in success rate to the femoral with significantly lower complications. Radial access also makes possible same-day discharge of patients after stenting. (Read more...)

April 17, 2009
Angioplasty from the Wrist: Interest is Growing But Lack of Training Limits Spread in U.S.
U.S. cardiologists who practice the radial approach have identified lack of training opportunities as a major roadblock to its proliferation. Yet at this year's ACC.09, one of the largest cardiology conferences in the U.S., exposure to studies involving the transradial approach was limited to six poster presentations and one 15-minute oral presentation. (Read more...)

April 8, 2009
Medtronic's Endeavor Stent Reduces Occlusion of Small Arterial Side Branches by 50%
A new study, published online before print in Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions, concludes that "Patients treated with ZES [Medtronic's Endeavor Zotarolimus Eluting Stent] were less likely to develop sidebranch occlusion during stent placement than patients treated with PES [Boston Scientific's Taxus Express Paclitaxel Eluting Stent]. (Read more...)

April 6, 2009
Cardiology Sites Taking Notice of the Radial Approach to PCI
Two polls on web sites for cardiology professionals are gauging the interest and popularity of the transradial (wrist) approach to angioplasty and stenting -- and the results are surprising, considering the low utilization of radial in the U.S. (Read more...)

April 3, 2009
Medtronic Launches Driver Sprint RX Coronary Stent System Worldwide
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) announced earlier this week that it has begun the international launch of its Driver Sprint RX Coronary Stent System, which received the CE (Conformité Européene) Mark in February 2009. The company plans to have its bare-metal stent on a rapid exchange platform commercially available in more than 100 countries worldwide. “The Driver stent system has always been very deliverable,” explained leading stent researcher Dr. C. Dubois of Leuven University Hospital in Belgium. “Now, the new Driver Sprint system makes it even more deliverable for the most challenging anatomy.” (Read more...)

March 30, 2009
Medtronic's Endeavor® Drug-Eluting Coronary Stent Approved in Japan
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), today announced approval of its Endeavor drug-eluting coronary stent system by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW), clearing the way for the highly anticipated launch of the product in the world’s second largest market for advanced medical technology. Medtronic plans to launch the Endeavor drug-eluting stent (DES) immediately following the authorization of reimbursement which is expected on May 1, making the Endeavor DES commercially available in every major market in the world. (Read more...)

March 29, 2009
Abbott's Market-Leading XIENCE V® Shows Increasing Clinical Advantages Over TAXUS® Express2™/TAXUS® Liberte™ Between Two and Three Years
Long-term data presented today from Abbott’s SPIRIT II clinical trial demonstrated that the clinical advantages of the XIENCE V® Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System continued to increase between two and three years compared to the TAXUS® Express2™ Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System / TAXUS® Liberte™ Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System (TAXUS). (Read more...)

March 29, 2009
ZEST: 3 Stents Go Head-to-Head-to-Head
The results of ZEST, a large scale randomized multi-center trial of all comers were presented this morning to the i2 Summit at ACC.09 by Dr. Seung-Jung Park of Asan Medical Center in South Korea. The goal of the trial was to evaluate paclitaxel- and sirolimus-eluting stents compared with zotarolimus-eluting stents in patients with coronary artery disease. (Read more...)

March 29, 2009
Small Trial for Innovative 'Healing' Stent Contradicts Findings from Larger Studies
Cardiologists anticipating positive results from a small head-to-head study comparing the novel Genous 'pro-healing' stent to a third generation bare metal chromium-cobalt stent were disappointed yesterday by less than favorable data from the 100-patient GENIUS-STEMI study. The MACE rate was 24% for the Genous vs. 10% for the bare metal stent. TLR was 14% vs. 4%. Not only were these rates very high, but they were far different from data that has been presented in the initial clinical trials for the Genous, as well as a very large 5,000-patient observational study, called the e-Healing Registry. (Read more...)

March 29, 2009
Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) Announces Third Annual Young Investigator Awards
The Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT), the leading international professional society devoted to cardiovascular computed tomography (CT), is now accepting submissions for the third annual Young Investigator Awards. Sponsored by Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc., the unrestricted educational grant will be awarded to two residents or fellows in either radiology or cardiology for their patient care research in the categories of technical and clinical advancement of cardiovascular CT. The deadline for submissions is April 6, 2009 (Read more...)

March 28, 2009
Stents: Same Outcomes, Less Money Than Surgery for Many Heart Patients
For many patients with triple-vessel or left main disease, drug-eluting stents provide similar outcomes to bypass surgery -- and for less money, according to data from the SYNTAX trial, presented this morning to the i2 Summit at the American College of Cardiology's 58th annual scientific session. (Read more...)

March 27, 2009
Medtronic Announces ACC 2009 Presentations
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), today announced highlights of clinical data presentations scheduled for the 2009 American College of Cardiology (ACC) meeting that feature the company’s cardiovascular innovations, including the Endeavor Drug-Eluting Stent (DES) and the Export Aspiration Catheter. ACC.09 takes place in Orlando March 28–31 at the Orange County Convention Center. (Read more...)

March 27, 2009
Volcano Announces Schedule of Events at the ACC 2009, Integration into Indec and Medis Software Platforms
Joe Burnett, Vice President of Marketing at Volcano commented, "Three years ago, you could flip through the ACC program and see a couple of presentations on intravascular assessment using IVUS or FFR. This year, there are more than 50 presentations, case reviews and abstracts focused on FFR, IVUS, OCT, Forward-Looking IVUS, and VH® IVUS plaque composition. Word is getting out that more precise guidance during PCI is important, and the sheer number of talks focused on higher resolution tools, highlight the increased demand for access to these technologies. (Read more...)

March 26, 2009
Boston Scientific Announces ACC 2009 Schedule
Boston Scientific Corporation today announced the schedule of the Company's major events and news announcements at the 58th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology / i2 Summit, which runs from March 28-31 in Orlando, Florida. (Read more...)

March 26, 2009
ACC 2009 Sessions on Intravascular Imaging and Functional Measurement
The upcoming American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Sessions, being held in Orlando, Florida from March 28-31 is featuring more than 50 presentations, case reviews and abstracts focused on intravascular imaging and functional measurement modalities, such as Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR), Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS, Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), as well as newer technologies, like Forward-Looking IVUS and VH plaque composition. (Read more...)

March 26, 2009
Cordis Celebrates 50 Years of Transforming Cardiovascular Care
As cardiologists are arriving in Orlando for the beginning of this weekend's 58th Annual Scientific Sessions of the American College of Cardiology, just a few hours away, Cordis Corporation will be celebrating its 50th anniversary as a manufacturer of innovative medical devices. (Read more...)

March 24, 2009
Abbott Moves Forward with Bioabsorbable Stent
Following recent publication of the two-year results of the ABSORB clinical trial of its novel bioabsorbable drug-eluting stent, Abbott Vascular today announced the start of the next phase of the trial, set to enroll 80 additional patients. Article contains an exclusive video of Dr. Charles Simonton, Chief Medical Officer for Abbott Vascular. (Read more...)

March 24, 2009
Is The Scaffolding Coming Down?
From the Editor's Blog -- Today's good news about Abbott's bioabsorbable stent brings the following analogy to mind: scaffolding. Unfortunately scaffolding inside the artery, unlike its building construction counterpart, cannot be removed once its job is done. (Read more...)

March 20, 2009
XTENT's Customizable Drug-Eluting Stent Gets European CE Mark Approval
Hopefully, for the innovative stent manufactured by XTENT, Inc. (Nasdaq: XTNT), yesterday's European approval has not come too late. On Thursday, the company announced that it has received CE Mark approval for its CUSTOM NX drug-eluting stent (DES) System. (Read more...)

March 11, 2009
Broadcasting Live Cases
Our video about the live demonstration course in interventional cardiology was shown at last week's CRT 2009 meeting. (Read more...)

March 10, 2009
Bent Out of SHAPE
Did the American Heart Association give its support to a Texas bill which would put the SHAPE Task Force recommendations into law regarding Coronary Artery Calcium screening...or not? (Read more...)

March 9, 2009
Interview with James K. Min, MD, FACC
The "Advances in Imaging" interview series presents discussions with researchers and leading specialists in the field of coronary imaging. This current discussion is with Dr. James K. Min, Director of Cardiac CT labs at Weill-Cornell Medical College at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital about the role of CT vis-a-vis nuclear stress testing, radiation dosage from Cardiac CT and more. (Read more...)

February 28, 2009
Medtronic Acquires Non-Surgical Aortic Valve Technologies
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) announced this week that it is acquiring two privately held companies that have been in the forefront of development for transcatheter aortic valves. The move, estimated at slightly more than $1 billion, positions Medtronic to move forward with future development and clinical trials of these non-surgical approaches to aortic valve replacement, a field currently occupied by Edwards LifeSciences. (Read more...)

February 20, 2009
Volcano Corporation Announces Webcast of February 25th Analyst Day
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC) will hold its 2009 Analyst Day on Wednesday, February 25, at the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York City. The webcast will begin at 10 a.m., Eastern Standard Time (7 a.m., Pacific Standard Time) and conclude at 2 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (11 a.m., Pacific Standard Time). (Read more...)

February 17, 2009
Medtronic Reports Third Quarter Revenue of $3.5 Billion
The company reported third quarter revenue of $3.494 billion, a three percent increase over third quarter revenue reported in fiscal year 2008 or a six percent increase after adjusting for an unfavorable $110 million foreign exchange impact. (Read more...)

February 17, 2009
Volcano Reports Full Year Revenues Increase 31 Percent
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC), a leader in the development, manufacturing and sales of products for the diagnosis and treatment of coronary and peripheral artery disease, today reported that revenues for the full year 2008 increased 31 percent over full year 2007 and that revenues for the fourth quarter of 2008 increased 23 percent over revenues in the fourth quarter of 2007. (Read more...)

February 17, 2009
Medpedia -- OMG!!!
Commentary from the Editor's Blog: As a rough estimate, it would seem that much of the information about interventional medicine on Medpedia is five years old. If this is any indication of the accuracy of the rest of Medpedia, I would definitely advise patients to go elsewhere. I would not call it Web 2.0 -- rather Web minus 1.25. (Read more...)

February 12, 2009
Volcano CEO to Present at Roth Capital Partners Conference; Webcast Announced
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC), a leader in the development, manufacturing and sales of products for the diagnosis and treatment of coronary and peripheral artery disease, said today that it will be participating in the Roth Capital Partners 21st Annual Growth Stock Conference on Wednesday, February 18. (Read more...)

February 11, 2009
Taking Cost-Effectiveness to Heart
Commentary from the Editor's Blog: Can government decide which therapies are effective and cost-effective? For all patients? What about the concept of personalized medicine? (Read more...)

February 6, 2009
Vote for Radial!
This week's poll on theheart.org is about the transradial (wrist) approach to catheterization and angioplasty. The question is "Should radial access become the default choice for PCI?" (Read more...)

February 6, 2009
Volcano Corporation Schedules Fourth Quarter Conference Call, Webcast
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC), a leader in the development, manufacturing and sales of products for the diagnosis and treatment of coronary and peripheral artery disease, today announced that it will report is operating results for the fourth quarter and all of fiscal 2008 on Tuesday, February 17. (Read more...)

February 5, 2009
CT Heart Scans, Radiation and the Media
Commentary from the Editor's Blog: Many headlines have been generated by a recent study in JAMA -- headlines proclaiming the high radiation doses from Cardiac CT scans. But the real news is how low some of the doses were, and that much lower radiation levels are achievable by all centers currently doing multislice computed tomography. (Read more...)

February 4, 2009
CT Scans of the Heart Can Be Done with Low Radiation Dose
Physicians are able to perform CT scans of the heart with minimal radiation exposure, according to a study published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). However, this new study shows wide variation in centers and calls for increased education and training to achieve optimum results. (Read more...)

January 30, 2009
Wrist Angioplasty Gaining Acceptance in U.S.
Over the past year, the transradial approach, doing angioplasty and inserting coronary stents using the wrist as the access site, has gotten significant attention. Peer-reviewed studies and presentations at meetings have consistently shown decreased bleeding complications, increased patient comfort and safety, and lower cost. (Read more...)

January 28, 2009
Circulation Publishes Pivotal Two-Year Results On XIENCE V™ Drug Eluting Stent
Data published online today in Circulation from the SPIRIT III U.S. pivotal trial evaluating the XIENCE V™ Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System demonstrated that Abbott's market-leading XIENCE V outperforms the TAXUS® Express²™ Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System (TAXUS) in reducing major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at two years. (Read more...)

January 28, 2009
TAXUS® Liberte® Drug-Eluting Stent System Approved in Japan
Japan has now approved its first second-generation drug-eluting stent, and that honor goes to Boston Scientific's TAXUS Liberte Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System. The company announced today that it has received approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) to market the stent. (Read more...)

January 28, 2009
Plavix Safety Update
The Editor's Blog provides a link to the joint statement by the American College of Cardiology Foundation, American Heart Association and the American College of Gastroenterology, regarding the safety of Plavix (clopidogrel) when used in conjunction with NSAIDs and the issue of proton pump inhibitors (PPI) such as Prilosec, Prevacid, Protonix, Nexium, etc. (Read more...)

January 26, 2009
Plavix, Prilosec, Prevacid, Protonix -- Do I Hear a Nexium?
Commentary from the Editor's Blog on the FDA announcment today that it is reviewing the safety of Plavix (clopidogrel) when used with Proton Pump Inhibitors. (Read more...)

January 25, 2009
Medtronic Seeks Runners -- Stents Included
Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) recently announced that it is looking for runners from around the world who have benefited from medical technology to participate in the company's 4th Annual Medtronic Global Heroes program. Stent patients are included. The deadline for entry is March 31, 2009. (Read more...)

January 25, 2009
Study: CT Scans and Stents Successful in Treating Strokes
Emergency use of CT scans and stents may be able to treat and significantly reduce the symptoms of a stroke. That is the conclusion of a small 16-patient study presented this week by Dr. L. Nelson "Nick" Hopkins of the University at Buffalo, SUNY. The data, presented at the 21st Annual International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy (ISET), showed that stents were able to open blocked brain arteries in all of the patients, and that 11 patients (69 percent) had significant improvement in their stroke symptoms. (Read more...)

January 23, 2009
Economy Claims Innovative Xtent
In an announcement today, Xtent Inc. (NASDAQ: XTNT) located in Menlo Park, California, stated that it is engaging the services of an investment bank to help the company pursue strategic alternatives, possible sale of some or all of the company's assets, or other type of acquisition. And of it 121 employees, all but nine have received termination notices, effective March 23. (Read more...)

January 23, 2009
EkoSonic™ Ultrasound Delivery Reduces Dose of Clot-Busting Drugs and May Lessen Risk of Bleeding in Peripheral Thrombolysis
An innovative catheter-based ultrasound system has been shown to reduce the need for so-called clot-dissolving drugs by 50%. Since a well-known side-effect of such drugs is bleeding, a technology that reduces the amount of drug needed may have significant beneficial impact on clinical outcomes. Once the clot is dissolved, the patient can then be treated with angioplasty, stents or medical therapy. (Read more...)

January 21, 2009
XIENCE V™ Stent Takes the Lead
In sharp contrast to the current gloomy picture in the healthcare sector, Abbott reported this morning that its 4th quarter 2008 global sales rose 10.1% over 2007, and that the company's XIENCE V drug-eluting stent was a significant contributor to the bottom line. (Read more...)

January 20, 2009
Volcano Highlights Commitment, Market Acceptance of FFR Product Line
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC), a leader in the development, manufacturing and sales of products for the diagnosis and treatment of coronary and peripheral artery disease, today commented on the increased demand for their FFR and IVUS capable consoles, as well as their FFR pressure guide wires. Since announcement of the FAME study results at the TCT in October, the FFR option for Volcano's s5i integrated imaging console was included in more than 90% of all new orders. (Read more...)

January 19, 2009
When Less is More: Stents, That Is
So many news reports about the recent FAME study in the New England Journal of Medicine drive home a message that is not exactly correct. The "Stents May Be Overused" headline is misleading. And here's why. (Read more...)

January 19, 2009
Transradial Access from the Wrist is Safer, Easier For Many Patients Undergoing Angioplasty or Stenting of Blocked Heart Arteries
Every year, about one million Americans opt for angioplasty over bypass surgery to open their blocked arteries. New data suggests that beginning the angioplasty procedure by entering through the wrist, rather than through the groin, will make it safer and easier on patients. (Read more...)

January 17, 2009
FAME: "Back to the Future"
The leading story about stents this past week has been the publication of the FAME study and how a new St. Jude Medical device that measures blood pressures inside the artery can reduce the number of unnecessary angioplasty and stent procedures. Well...it's not a new device; it's definitely not a new concept; and St. Jude doesn't exactly get the credit for it either, since their chief role was to acquire the company that created the product. But it is an important study! (Read more...)

January 15, 2009
Better Outcomes for Stents When Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) is Used
One-third fewer stents were used in the FFR group and the difference in outcomes at one year were significant: the FFR group showed a 28% lower incidence of major adverse cardiac events (repeat procedure to open the artery, heart attack or death) -- 18.3% vs. 13.2%. The implication in these results is that placing stents in lesions that are not responsible for ischemia is not only not necessary, but may cause worse outcomes. (Read more...)

January 15, 2009
Interview with Nico H. J. Pijls, MD, PhD
Angioplasty.Org conducts an exclusive interview with Dr. Nico Pijls, co-principal investigator of the FAME study (Fractional Flow Reserve vs. Angiography for Multivessel Evaluation) published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study concludes that "Routine measurement of FFR in patients with multivessel coronary artery disease who are undergoing PCI with drug-eluting stents significantly reduces the rate of the composite end point of death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and repeat revascularization at 1 year." (Read more...)

January 13, 2009
Dreadlines About Stents Revisited
How can a mere article in the "newspaper of record" be dangerous? Is the pen mightier than the catheter? Is there such a thing as a "killer journalist"? (Read more...)

January 13, 2009
Medtronic Seeking Long-Distance Runners Who Benefit From Medical Technology
Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) announced today it is recruiting runners from around the world who benefit from medical technology to participate in the fourth annual Medtronic Global Heroes program. Up to 25 runners will be selected to receive a paid entry for themselves and a guest to the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon or the Medtronic TC 10 Mile and a travel package. The deadline for applications is March 31, 2009. (Read more...)

January 12, 2009
Radial Access Session to be Featured at ISET 2009
The 21st annual ISET meeting in Florida, being held January 18-22, 2009, is featuring a special concurrent session on Monday, January 19 from 4:30-6:00pm. Titled "Radial Access Techniques and Applications", Dr. Ramon Quesada of Baptist Cardiac and Vascular Institute in Miami will moderate a panel with Jeffrey J. Popma, MD of St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Boston and Ron Caputo, MD of St. Joseph's Hospital Cardiology Associates in Syracuse, New York. (Read more...)

January 12, 2009
Medtronic to Acquire Ablation Frontiers for $225 Million
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) and privately held Ablation Frontiers, Inc., today announced that the two companies have entered into an agreement whereby Medtronic will acquire Ablation Frontiers for an initial payment of $225 million plus potential additional payments contingent upon achievement of certain clinical milestones. (Read more...)

January 7, 2009
Volcano Announces Closing of Axsun Technologies Acquisition
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC), a leader in the development, manufacturing and sales of products for the diagnosis and treatment of coronary and peripheral artery disease, said today that it has closed its previously announced acquisition of Axsun Technologies, Inc. (Read more...)

January 6, 2009
Volcano Corporation Presentation at J.P. Morgan Conference to be Webcast
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC), a leader in the development, manufacturing and sales of products for the diagnosis and treatment of coronary and peripheral artery disease, said today that it will be participating in the 27th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Wednesday, January 14. (Read more...)

January 5, 2009
Leading Interventional Cardiologists Discuss the Advantages of Transradial Access
Angioplasty.Org is making available a one-hour online symposium, titled "Transradial Access: The Advantages to You, Your Patient and Hospital", with a panel of four leading interventional cardiologists: Dr. Jeffrey Popma, Dr. Ramon Quesada, Dr. Ron Caputo and Dr. Shigeru Saito. The original symposium was held during the 2008 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting on October 16 at the Washington Convention Center in Washington DC and is being presented through a partnership of Angioplasty.Org, TCTMD.com and Terumo Medical Corporation. (Read more...)

January 1, 2009
New England Journal Criticizes CBS News on Transradial Angioplasty Report
From the Editor's Blog: I approached Susan Dentzer's article, "Communicating Medical News - Pitfalls of Health Care Journalism", published in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, with great interest. I unfortunately was a bit disappointed, specifically with her criticism of a September 24, 2008 CBS News segment about transradial angioplasty. (Read more...)

December 21, 2008
St. Jude Medical Acquires Radi Medical Systems
St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE: STJ) and Radi Medical AB announced today the completion of St. Jude Medical's acquisition of Radi Medical Systems AB for $250 million in cash. Radi Medical Systems is the world leader in two segments of the market for cardiovascular medical devices in which St. Jude Medical does not currently participate. For 2008, Radi Medical Systems is expected to generate approximately $80 million in sales, a 19 percent increase over 2007. (Read more...)

December 9, 2008
Interview with Szilard Voros, MD
Virtual Histology IVUS allows the cardiologist to see not only the plaque inside the artery, but what the composition of that plaque is. We discuss this new technology with one of the leading researchers in the field. (Read more...)

December 3, 2008
Presentation on Transradial Angioplasty at 8th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Association of Cardiovascular Catheter Therapeutics
At this year's 8th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Association of Cardiovascular Catheter Therapeutics, held in Kyoto from November 23-25, world-renown French cardiologist Dr. Thierry Lefevre presented a comprehensive overview of radial angioplasty, not just from the French experience, but worldwide -- complete with calculations of cost-effectiveness, reports of lower complications, safety, and indications of patient comfort. (Read more...)

December 2, 2008
Volcano Corporation: Intravascular Imaging Ascending
In the midst of a recession, Volcano Corporation has shown a 19% increase in its stock value over the past six months. Its only competitor in the U.S. market suffered a 55% decrease. Why? (Read more...)

November 30, 2008
Popular Press Continues to Breed Confusion Over CT Heart Scans
Two articles in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine cause a Rashoman effect: is CT angiography useful for diagnosing coronary artery disease or not? (Read more...)

November 24, 2008
Volcano Corporation Presentation at Piper Jaffray Conference to Be Webcast
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC), a leader in the development, manufacturing and sales of products for the diagnosis and treatment of coronary and peripheral artery disease, said today that it will be participating in the 20th Annual Piper Jaffray Health Care Conference on Tuesday, December 2. (Read more...)

November 20, 2008
Radial Angioplasty and Angiography Safer For Elderly Patients
A new German study reports that the use of the wrist for catheter access results in lower bleeding and vascular complications for patients 75 years and older. A recent study from China found similar safety for elderly patients who presented with acute myocardial infarction. (Read more...)

November 20, 2008
Radial Angioplasty Training at Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix
Several recent international studies have shown that catheterizations, angioplasty and stent placement, when performed from the wrist, result in lower bleeding complications, and are associated with a significant reduction in mortality. Even so, the wrist approach, also called transradial access, is performed in less than 4 out of 100 patients in the United States, although in Canada, Europe and Asia, use of the technique is far more common. One reason, says Dr. Mehrdad Saririan of Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix, is that "there are a lot of myths surrounding radial procedures." (Read more...)

November 11, 2008
Study: Terumo TR Band™ Hemostasis Device Reduces Radial Artery Occlusion by 56%
A new study, conducted by Dr. Samir B. Pancholy of Mercy Hospital in Scranton, Pennsylvania, shows that the concept of "guided compression" in transradial procedures can reduce radial artery occlusion by 56%, especially when facilitated by the use of the TR Band™ Hemostasis Device. (Read more...)

November 11, 2008
Interview with Samir B. Pancholy, MD, FACC, FSCAI
In this interview, Angioplasty.Org talks with radialist Dr. Samir Pancholy about his findings regarding the prevention of radial artery occlusion, one of the few complications associated with the transradial approach to catheter-based procedures. (Read more...)

November 10, 2008
Cardium Completes $6.0 Million Financing
Cardium Therapeutics (Amex: CXM) today announced the completion of a $6.0 million financing in the form of secured debt with accompanying warrants to purchase shares of common stock, replacing a prior debt financing that was concluded and paid off last quarter. (Read more...)

November 5, 2008
78% Increase in Intravascular Ultrasound Systems Sales Boosts Volcano Quarterly Growth by 40%
For the quarter ended September 30, 2008, Volcano reported revenues of $44.1 million versus revenues of $31.5 million in the same period a year ago. The company said that its financial performance was driven by a 78 percent increase in intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) system revenues and a 29 percent increase in IVUS disposable revenues year-over-year. (Read more...)

November 5, 2008
Volcano Corporation To Report Third Quarter Results Today During Conference Call, Webcast
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC) will report its operating results for the third quarter and first nine months of fiscal 2008 on Wednesday, November 5. The company will hold a conference call to discuss its financial results and operating activities open to all interested parties at 2 p.m., Pacific Standard Time (5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time). (Read more...)

October 23, 2008
Will Medtronic Get An Rx (Rapid Exchange) For Its Endeavor Stent?
Ending a prohibition that has lasted almost a decade, federal court judge D. Lowell Jensen of the Northern District of California ordered yesterday that the injunction preventing Medtronic's access to the Rapid Exchange (RX) delivery system will end on October 29, 2008. (Read more...)

October 23, 2008
American College of Cardiology Honors the Contributions of Interventional Cardiovascular Medicine
Capping off the 30-Year Anniversary of Coronary Angioplasty, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) continued the celebration of Dr. Andreas Gruentzig's courageous and visionary work last week by premiering an exhibit, honoring the history of interventional cardiovascular medicine and showcasing the broad-based and far-reaching impact that interventional cardiology has had on cardiovascular care and medical science. The exhibit includes a video presentation, created by Burt Cohen, founder of Angioplasty.Org, to honor those who preceded Gruentzig and formed the foundation for his work. (Read more...)

October 23, 2008
Boston Scientific's Carotid Artery WALLSTENT® Gets FDA Approval
Today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave its approval to Boston Scientific's Carotid WALLSTENT® Monorail® Endoprosthesis for the treatment of patients with carotid artery disease who are at high risk for surgery. Less than 48 hours since the FDA lifted most of the major restrictions of its 2006 warning letter to the device manufacturer, one of their major products now has been given the green light. (Read more...)

October 23, 2008
Cardium Announces FDA 510(K) Clearance of InnerCool's RapidBlue™ Endovascular System
Cardium Therapeutics Amex: CXM) and its operating unit InnerCool Therapies, Inc. announced today that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market the RapidBlue™ System, an endovascular temperature modulation device. InnerCool's RapidBlue System is a thermal regulating system designed to manage and control patient body temperature. (Read more...)

October 22, 2008
ODESSA Trial Looks Inside Drug-Eluting Stents With Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)
(Updated) The results of ODESSA showed that OCT could indeed accurately measure strut coverage and NIH. An interesting data point was confirmation of the differences in the currently available DES. ODESSA looked at Cypher, Taxus, Endeavor and Bare Metal stents. The results showed that at six months, virtually all the struts of the Endeavor stent were covered -- the healing was even more complete than with bare metal stents, which reinforces reports of little or no very late stent thrombosis with the Endeavor. At the same time, an inverse relationship was observed between strut coverage and growth of neo-intimal hyperplasia (NIH) -- the Endeavor had the highest NIH growth of the DES (also called Late Loss) while the Cypher stent had the least Late Loss, but the highest number of uncovered struts. (Read more...)

October 13, 2008
Volcano Corporation Announces Schedule of Events for TCT (Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics Conference) 2008
The company has announced a wide range of events including live case transmissions, symposia to highlight new products and the clinical utility of Volcano technologies including FFR, IVUS, VH IVUS, OCT and Forward-Looking IVUS (Read more...)

October 6, 2008
Volcano Corporation Relocating Corporate Headquarters to San Diego
The new corporate headquarters is located in the Carmel Valley area of San Diego and now houses corporate executives, marketing, finance, accounting, corporate human resources, legal and catheter engineering. The company intends to expand its operations in San Diego in the future. The company's core research and development, manufacturing, operations, quality and local human resources functions will remain in Volcano's facilities in Rancho Cordova, CA. (Read more...)

September 25, 2008
Is Radial Angioplasty at a Turning Point in U.S.?
Two recent large-scale studies confirm what a small but growing number of interventional cardiologists have seen in their own practices: for the proper patients, catheterizations and angioplasties performed from the wrist (radial) artery are safer than those performed from the groin (leg) artery, with no difference in procedural success. (Read more...)

September 24, 2008
CBS Goes Radial
Commentary from the Editor's Blog -- CBS Network's "Early Show" does a segment with Dr. Howard Cohen on "the New Angioplasty" -- from the wrist. (Read more...)

September 21, 2008
Terumo Announces Educational Programs for Transradial Catheterization and Angioplasty to be Held at the 2008 TCT Meeting
Terumo Interventional Systems has announced a number of activities, symposia and workshops, as part of the 2008 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting being held October 12-17, 2008 at the Washington Convention Center in Washington DC. (Read more...)

September 20, 2008
Volcano Corporation Schedules Events for 2008 TCT Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics Meeting
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC), a leading manufacturer of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and functional measurement (FM) technology, has scheduled several events to be held during the 2008 TCT meeting in Washington DC, being held October 12-17, 2008 at the Washington Convention Center. (Read more...)

September 16, 2008
Angioplasty from the Radial Artery in the Wrist is Safer, Says Study of 600,000 Patients
A study, published in the current issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiac Interventions, looked at 593,094 angioplasty and stent patients and found that those patients who had procedures done from the radial or wrist artery experienced 58% less bleeding complications than those who had their procedures done from the femoral artery in the groin -- yet the radial approach is used less than 2% of the time in the U.S. (Read more...)

September 15, 2008
Interview with Tak W. Kwan, MD, FACC, FACP
In this interview, Angioplasty.Org discusses the transradial approach to catheterization and intervention with Dr. Tak Kwan. For a number of years, Dr. Kwan has worked closely with Dr. John Coppola of St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City. Both Dr. Kwan and Dr.Coppola traveled to India in 2003 to learn the radial technique from Dr. Tejus Patel. (Read more...)

September 15, 2008
Transradial Cardiac Catheterizations Using Optitorque™ Catheters
A white paper by Drs. Tak Kwan and Jared S. Corriel describes the use of Terumo's Optitorque™ catheter for performing transradial cardiac catheterizations. The authors conclude that the use of this single catheter, which can be used for both the left and right coronary angiograms, as well as the left ventriculogram, has the potential to significantly reduce procedure cost and time, complications, and patient discomfort. (Read more...)

September 2, 2008
Volcano's Virtual Histology Imaging Allows Major Drug Study (IBIS-2) to Measure "Vulnerable Plaque"
Volcano's VH® IVUS technology is being used in an imaging study of GlaxoSmithKline's novel investigational compound, Darapladib. Dubbed the IBIS-2 (Integrated Biomarker and Imaging Study) the study results demonstrate the benefits of VH® IVUS in drug development. (Read more...)

August 11, 2008
Cardium Reports on Second Quarter 2008 Highlights and Financial Results
The Company reported a net loss of $6.6 million, or $0.15 per share, which included research and development costs totaling $4.0 million and selling, general and administrative expenses of $2.7 million. Non-cash charges relating to stock-based compensation, depreciation and amortization for the second quarter of fiscal 2008 totaled $943,000. Total revenue for the second quarter 2008 was $627,000, compared to $229,000 for the same quarter last year. (Read more...)

July 30, 2008
Medtronic Stent Thrombosis Study Begins in U.S. Comparing Safety of Endeavor® and Cypher® Drug-Eluting Stents
The U.S. arm of the PROTECT Study is part of the largest randomized controlled trial of its kind. The PROTECT Study will enroll 8,800 patients with coronary artery disease to Evaluate differences in stent thrombosis and other endpoints. (Read more...)

July 29, 2008
Volcano Corporation Schedules Second Quarter Conference Call and Webcast
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC), a leading manufacturer and developer of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), functional measurement (FM) and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) products designed to enhance the diagnosis and treatment of coronary and peripheral vascular disease, today announced that it will report its operating results for the second quarter and first six months of fiscal 2008 on Tuesday, August 5. (Read more...)

July 28, 2008
Cardium Announces Appointment of Paul A. Foster, M.D. To Lead Generx and Excellarate Late-Stage Development Activities
Cardium Therapeutics (Amex: CXM) announced the appointment of Paul A. Foster, M.D. as Chief Medical Officer to lead the Company's late-stage clinical development activities at Cardium's Tissue Repair Company for the MATRIX Phase 2b clinical study that is evaluating its Excellarate product candidate for the treatment of diabetic ulcers, and the AWARE Phase 3 clinical study that is evaluating its Generx product candidate as a potential treatment for recurrent myocardial ischemia. (Read more...)

July 26, 2008
CT in the OC and the DC
Commentary from the Editor's Blog: the topic of CT angiograms is discussed by an article in the OC Register and by a panel of imaging experts at the NIH. (Read more...)

July 22, 2008
Interview with Prediman K. Shah, MD, FACC
Dr. Shah has been working extensively in the area of gene and cell therapy and recently began enrollment in the AWARE clinical trial (Angiogenesis in Women With Angina Pectoris Who Are Not Candidates for Revascularization), a Phase 3 randomized clinical trial for which he is an investigator at Cedars-Sinai. The AWARE clinical research study is currently enrolling women patients in the United States to determine the safety and effectiveness of an investigational medication called Generx™ from Cardium Therapeutics of San Diego. (Read more...)

July 20, 2008
Radial Angioplasty Training at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York
Dr. John T. Coppola and Dr. Tak Kwan of St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan have announced their third training course in the transradial technique for catheterization, angioplasty and stenting. Their June course was fully enrolled weeks in advance. (Read more...)

Jul 16, 2008
Congress Overrides Bush Medicare Veto
Although concerns had been raised that the veto-proof majority of last week's Senate vote on reversing Medicare cuts might not hold, both the Senate and House of Representatives yesterday quickly overrode President Bush's veto, made earlier in the day. The vote represents only the fourth time in eight years that Congress has overidden one of President Bush's vetoes. (Read more...)

Jul 15, 2008
Bush Vetoes Medicare Bill -- Override Not Certain
As expected, President Bush today vetoed the Medicare legislation passed earlier this month by both the House and Senate. An override of Bush's veto is all but certain in the House of Representative, where the original vote was an overwhelming 355-59. However, the Senate vote was much closer (69-30, with Presidential candidate John McCain not voting). (Read more...)

July 12, 2008
Passing of an Era -- Michael DeBakey (1908-2008)
(From the Editor's Blog)
As I sat in my editing room, screening the 120 minutes, I was astounded at the detail and breadth of this man's experience. His stories about his mother's sewing classes (where he learned the technique that would revolutionize vascular surgery!) to his dinner with General Patton in Patton's French chateau during WWII, to his surgery on the Duke of Windsor who, like Arethra Franklin, refused to fly and took a train from NYC to Houston -- I was constantly reminded of what an amazing impact this one human had on the field of medicine. (Read more...)

July 12, 2008
Dr. Michael DeBakey, Father of Cardiac Surgery, Dies at 99
Considered the father of cardiac surgery, and by many the world's greatest surgeon, Michael E. DeBakey passed away on Friday night in Houston, just two months shy of his 100th birthday. Born in Lake Charles, Louisiana to Lebanese-Christian immigrants, DeBakey invented numerous surgical procedures and techniques, as well as a host of devices that revolutionized vascular and cardiac surgery. (Read more...)

July 10, 2008
Stent Safety Study of 5,000 Patients Started by Abbott for XIENCE V™ Drug Eluting Stent
Just one week after FDA approval of the XIENCE V™ Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System, Abbott has announced that six hospital centers already are recruiting and enrolling patients in the XIENCE V USA post-approval study. Post-marketing studies for stents are now required of companies by the FDA, as part of the approval process, in order to better monitor these devices. (Read more...)

July 9, 2008
Senate Reverses Medicare Cuts to Doctors
In a critical vote that threatened to cut Medicare payments to physicians by more than 10%, the U.S. Senate today approved legislation that reverses those cuts. Buoyed by the appearance of Senator Ted Kennedy, who made his first visit to the Senate since being operated on for brain cancer, the Senate passed the law by a veto-proof 69-30 vote .(Read more...)

July 8, 2008
CT Heart Scan Experts Criticize New York Times Article
(Updated) -- A recent New York Times front page feature on CT angiography has produced strong reactions from cardiologists who work in the field of Computed Tomography -- reactions that range from surprise to anger. Several of the imaging specialists who were quoted in the article were particularly upset by the coverage. (Read more...)

July 7, 2008
CT Tour of the Heart
An extensive refutation of last week's New York Times article on CT Angiography was posted this morning on Angioplasty.Org, but the coolest part of the article is Dr. Henry Hecht's "CT Tour of the Heart". (Read more...)

July 2, 2008
Abbott's XIENCE™ V Everolimus Drug-Eluting Coronary Stent is Approved by FDA
Surprising analysts on Wall Street, who had recently written that Abbott's new drug-eluting stent might not be approved until the fourth quarter, Abbott today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the XIENCE V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System for the treatment of coronary artery disease. (Read more...)

June 29, 2008
Misleading Report on CT Heart Scans
Commentary from the Editor's Blog: A major article about CT angiograms in this morning's New York Times has some major omissions and takes an inappropriately negative view of an imaging technology that can save lives and money. Significant facts are left out of the article, facts that would refute much of its critique. (Read more...)

June 28, 2008
Interview with Ron Waksman, MD, FACC
Our IVUS Center features a discussion about an important new study, just published in the European Heart Journal, showing that IVUS guidance can improve outcomes with drug-eluting stents, including significantly lower rates of stent thrombosis. (Read more...)

June 27, 2008
Half-Price Stents?
In a posting today, CNBC's Mike Huckman cites a research note that Boston Scientific is now bundling its TAXUS paclitaxel-eluting stent for $1,100 each -- less than half of its original price. (Read more...)

June 26, 2008
Interview with Mauricio G. Cohen, MD, FACC
In its ongoing series of interviews with practitioners of the transradial approach to catheterization and interventions, Angioplasty.Org discusses how and why Dr. Cohen decided to specialize in this alternative vascular access technique. Also featured is Dr. Cohen's tutorial slide show. (Read more...)

June 19, 2008
Young Investigators Award Finalists Announced by Toshiba Medical
Continuing its mission to improve the quality of patient care, Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. has named the finalists of the second annual Young Investigators Award. Sponsored by Toshiba through an unrestricted educational grant, the Young Investigators Award will be awarded to two physicians for their patient care research in the categories of clinical and technical cardiovascular CT. (Read more...)

June 16, 2008
Toshiba Infinix Hybrid Systems Used in Three Live Demonstrations at ISHAC Symposium
Toshiba America Medical Systems' Infinix™ Hybrid cardiovascular X-ray imaging system will be featured in three live cases during the International Symposium on the Hybrid Approach to Congenital Heart Disease (ISHAC), June 16-18, 2008. Coordinated by Nationwide Children's Hospital and in its third year, ISHAC is the most comprehensive symposium on cardiac hybrid procedures. (Read more...)

June 11, 2008
Cardium Launches New AWARE Clinical Study Website
Cardium Therapeutics (Amex: CXM) today announced the launch of a new website at www.anginaresearchstudy.com to provide patients, caregivers and physicians with information about the Company's Phase 3 AWARE clinical study. The AWARE study is evaluating the therapeutic effects of Generx(TM) for the potential treatment of myocardial ischemia (insufficient blood flow within the heart muscle) and associated angina due to coronary heart disease. Generx is designed to promote angiogenesis, a natural process of blood vessel growth within the heart muscle, following a one-time intracoronary infusion from a standard cardiac infusion catheter. (Read more...)

June 10, 2008
Interview with Shigeru Saito, MD
One of the world's leading educators and practitioners of transradial coronary intervention, Dr. Shigeru Saito discusses how he introduced the technique to Japan a decade ago and makes recommendations for physicians interested in starting their own practice. (Read more...)

June 10, 2008
Interest in Transradial Angioplasty Growing Among U.S. Cardiologists
In many countries around the world, angioplasty or stenting is done through an artery in the wrist 30-50% of the time. A recent study reported half the bleeding complications and lower mortality with this method. Yet in the United States, the use of this technique, called transradial angioplasty, remains in the low single digits. One of the reasons has to do with the training of interventional cardiologists. (Read more...)

June 7, 2008
Vascular Surgeons Donate Expertise to Help Soldiers Injured in Combat
The development of vascular surgery has much to do with the battlefield, and in each war, successive advances in vascular repair were made in treatments that were then brought home to the civilian population. So it is no surprise that all it took was a quick e-mail to members of the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), to convince them to volunteer their expertise to help soldiers who have been injured in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Read more...)

June 7, 2008
FDA Approves Second Medtronic Stent Graft for Minimally-Invasive Treatment of Aortic Disease
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) has announced their latest FDA approval for an endovascular device: the Talent™ Thoracic Stent Graft. The approval marks the second stent graft approval for Medtronic in as many months: on April 16, the FDA okayed the company's Talent Abdominal Stent Graft. Both devices allow patients to benefit from a minimally invasive treatment for certain types of aneurysms of the aorta. (Read more...)

June 4, 2008
Paul LaViolette to Leave Boston Scientific
Boston Scientific announced yesterday that Chief Operating Officer Paul LaViolette, 50, will be retiring at the end of this month and his duties will be assumed by current President and CEO Jim Tobin, who will remain in his position "for the foreseeable future". The position of COO, held by LaViolette since 2005, will not be replaced. (includes video interview with Paul LaViolette.) (Read more...)

June 3, 2008
When Can I Stop Taking Plavix? -- A New Imaging Modality May Help Patients and Physicians Determine Optimal Duration of Antiplatelet Therapy in the Not-Too-Distant Future
(Updated) The question on the minds of a great many patients who have had a drug-eluting stent implanted is: "When can I stop taking Plavix? When will my drug-eluting stent be completely healed?" It's THE question of the day, and no one is really sure of the answer. However, a new imaging technology, called Optical Coherence Tomography or OCT, may help with this issue in the not-too-distant future.. (Read more...)

June 2, 2008
Abbott Looking for Japanese Approval of XIENCE™ V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent
Although Abbott's XIENCE V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System is still awaiting U.S. FDA approval, the company already has submitted its application to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) / Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA). The Japanese market is estimated at 200,000 stents implanted annually, the largest outside of the United States. (Read more...)

May 28, 2008
ACC and CRF Announce Partnership on American College of Cardiology's Innovation in Intervention: i2 Summit
The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) announced today a multi-year partnership to jointly sponsor the ACC i2 interventional cardiology meeting in Orlando, Fla., March 28-31, 2009, during ACC.09, the ACC's 58th Annual Scientific Session and the world's premier cardiovascular meeting. This will be the beginning of a five-year partnership committed to collectively developing the interventional component of the ACC Annual Scientific Session. (Read more...)

May 27, 2008
Are Women Smarter Than Men In Recognizing Signs of a Heart Attack?
Are women really smarter than men when it comes to recognizing the symptoms of a heart attack? A new study, published in the May 26 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine found that to be the case. (Read more...)

May 23, 2008
SCAI Announces 2009 Annual Scientific Sessions
A month after announcing that it would not be holding a combined annual meeting with the American College of Cardiology next year, The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) has announced that it will hold its 2009 Annual Scientific Sessions on May 6-9, 2009, at Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas. (Read more...)

May 19, 2008
New Smaller Size Embolic Protection Filter to Treat Narrower Bypass Grafts
Used in bypass surgery, the saphenous vein graft (SVG) is narrower than the internal mammary artery and tends to be more prone to re-blocking. When that occurs, angioplasty is often used to open it up again. One problem is that the plaque from a saphenous vein graft is also more "friable" and can flake off, which can have serious consequences. Today, Boston Scientific announced a smaller size filter, which will expand its use to even narrower vessels. (Read more...)

May 17, 2008
Obama and Clinton Agree
Commentary from the Editor's Blog: Tomorrow's New York Times carries a story about a radical new approach to the problems of malpractice suits -- except that it is precisely the solution described in depth two years ago by the current Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Read more...)

May 16, 2008
Abbott Launches Next-Generation StarClose® SE Vascular Closure System
Abbott today announced the launch of the StarClose® SE Vascular Closure System, a next-generation vessel closure device engineered to enable fast, safe and secure closure of the femoral artery access site following a catheterization procedure. StarClose SE is available in the United States and Europe. (Read more...)

May 15, 2008
"Life Wide Open": A Stent Cypher
Commentary on the New England Journal critique of Johnson & Johnson's CYPHER stent TV ad campaign, such as it was. Was this really a Direct-To-Consumer effort? (Read more...)

May 15, 2008
Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS) Use Growing with Integration into Routine Cath Lab Imaging
Intravascular Ultrasound, or IVUS, is an imaging technology that looks at arteries from the inside out. Invented two decades ago, IVUS recently has been gaining in usage due to safety concerns about stent thrombosis and proper stent placement during angioplasty. (Read more...)

May 13, 2008
Abbott Heart Stent Better at Keeping Coronary Arteries Open and Reducing Adverse Events: Part of a New Generation of "DES 2.0"
Two-year outcomes from the SPIRIT III trial, studying the XIENCE™ V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System, were presented today at the EuroPCR 2008 meeting in Barcelona -- and the results showed Abbott's second generation stent to be superior to Boston Scientific's market-leading TAXUS paclitaxel-eluting stent in several important criteria. (Read more...)

May 13, 2008
Endeavor II Four-Year Results Demonstrate Long-Term Safety and Durable Efficacy of Medtronic Drug-Eluting Stent
Today at EuroPCR, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), released four-year data from the ENDEAVOR II clinical trial that reinforces the long-term safety and durable efficacy of the company’s Endeavor Zotarolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent System for the treatment of coronary artery disease. (Read more...)

May 12, 2008
Volcano Announces Placement of 1,000th s5 and s5i IVUS Imaging System; Presence at the EuroPCR08 will highlight choice of different modalities available on single integrated imaging platform
Scott Huennekens, President and Chief Executive Officer of Volcano, commented, "Reaching this milestone as quickly as we have is a clear indication of the clinical adoption of IVUS and FFR, and the competitiveness of our product. More and more physicians are using intravascular imaging to measure lesion significance and improve PCI technique. The ease of use and flexibility of our newest systems have been very well received. These new systems are gaining traction with both new IVUS users, as well as those who are looking to replace their legacy IVUS technology." (Read more...)

May 10, 2008
New Radial Angioplasty Course Set for St. Vincent's Hospital in New York
Following up on his April course, Dr. John T. Coppola, Chairman of Cardiology at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan, will be presenting a two-day hands-on training course for cardiologists on the clinical, didactic and practical aspects of Transradial Access. The course will be held on June 12-13, 2008 at St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village, New York. Course Co-Director is Dr. Tak Kwan and special Guest Faculty is world-famous interventionalist, Dr. Shigeru Saito of Shonan Kamakura General Hospital, Japan. (Read more...)

May 9, 2008
Cardium Reports on First Quarter 2008 Highlights and Financial Results
Cardium Therapeutics (Amex: CXM) today reported recent highlights and developments, as well as financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2008. (Read more...)

May 8, 2008
Nevada Imaging Centers Installs the First Toshiba Aquilion ONE™ Dynamic Volume CT System in the Western United States
As a testament to the growing demand to improve patient care while reducing healthcare costs, Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. has installed the first Aquilion ONE™ dynamic volume CT system in the Western U.S. at Nevada Imaging Centers in Las Vegas. "As the only dynamic volume CT system in the world, the Aquilion ONE's ability to image an entire organ and show function means faster, more accurate diagnosis, better patient outcomes and ultimately lower healthcare costs," explained Dr. William W. Orrison, chief of Neuroradiology, Nevada Imaging Centers. (Read more...)

May 8, 2008
Volcano Corp Announces First Human Use of the Volcano Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) Imaging Catheter
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC) announced today the first human procedure using the Volcano OCT Imaging catheter. The procedure was performed by Dr. Patrick Serruys at the Thoraxcenter, in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Volcano OCT will complement its existing line of IVUS imaging catheters and pressure guidewires used for coronary imaging and lesion assessment. (Read more...)

May 7, 2008
Volcano Reports 24 Percent Increase in First Quarter Revenues; IVUS Disposable Revenues Increase 30 Percent
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC), a leading manufacturer and developer of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), functional measurement (FM) and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) products designed to enhance the diagnosis and treatment of coronary and peripheral vascular disease, today reported results for the first quarter of fiscal 2008. (Read more...)

May 5, 2008
Volcano Announces Participation in SATURN Clinical Trial Sponsored by AstraZeneca
SATURN is a 104-week, parallel-group, multicentre, double-blind, Phase IIIb intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging study of approximately 1,300 patients at 170 centres This study by AstraZeneca is designed to measure the impact of CRESTOR™ (rosuvastatin) 40 mg and atorvastatin (Lipitor®) 80 mg on the progression of atherosclerosis in high risk patients. SATURN will compare the effects of these two statins on the ability to decrease progression or induce regression of atherosclerosis, the main cause of cardiovascular disease, following two years of treatment in patients with coronary artery disease. (Read more...)

May 2, 2008
Another Way To Rescue A Threatened Heart: Through The Wrist
(Susan Jenks, Florida Today)
Cardiologists say operation takes less nursing care, space, recovery time. Norberto Schechtmann, vice chairman of the cardiology department at Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, is one of several local cardiologists who uses the radial artery as an alternative way to reach the heart, often to relieve severe angina or chest pains. Patients who are obese or suffer from peripheral artery disease, making groin access too difficult, can benefit the most, he said. (Read more...)

May 1, 2008
Stent Pioneer Richard A. Schatz, M.D. Joins Cardium's Scientific Advisory Board
"We are very pleased to have Richard Schatz join our scientific advisory board," stated Christopher J. Reinhard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cardium. "Richard is not only a pioneer in the development of vascular stents but has been involved in landmark studies related to new therapies for treating cardiovascular disease. We look forward to benefiting from his expert insights and years of experience in the field of interventional cardiology as we move forward in the development of our lead product candidate, Generx, for the potential treatment of recurrent angina associated with coronary heart disease." (Read more...)

April 27, 2008
SCAI and ACC Announce Individual 2009 Annual Scientific Sessions
The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) today announced a return to the traditional individual meeting formats for both the SCAI Annual Scientific Sessions and i2 Summit in 2009. (Read more...)

April 22, 2008
Study in JAMA Shows Patients Treated With Abbott's XIENCE™ V Drug Eluting Stent Experience Better Outcomes Than Patients Treated With Market-Leading Drug Eluting Stent
A study published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) demonstrated that use of Abbott's XIENCE™ V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System in patients with coronary artery disease resulted in a significant 50 percent reduction in vessel renarrowing (in-segment late loss) at eight months, non-inferior rates of target vessel failure (TVF) at nine months, and an observed 42 percent reduction in major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at one year compared to the TAXUS® Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System. (Read more...)

April 16, 2008
FDA Approves Medtronic’s Talent™ Abdominal Stent Graft for Repairing Aortic Aneurysms
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), today announced approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use of the Talent™ Abdominal Stent Graft on the CoilTrac Delivery System, an innovative medical device that expands patient access to a minimally-invasive treatment option for abdominal aortic aneurysms. (Read more...)

April 15, 2008
Early and Rapid Cooling Following Heart Attack May Reduce Damage to Cardiac Muscle
The study, conducted by a team of interventional cardiologists at the Lund University Hospital, Sweden, evaluated the effect of early and rapid cooling induced by a combination of cold saline infusion along with InnerCool's endovascular Celsius Control™ System, before or immediately after reperfusion when coronary blood flow was restored in the heart in a porcine heart attack model. Results from this study demonstrated that rapid cooling (to ‹35 degrees Celsius) prior to reperfusion significantly reduced overall myocardial infarct size (a measure of tissue damage in the heart) and protected the heart from other injury. (Read more...)

April 1, 2008
Toshiba Introduces Advanced Image Processing for Its Infinix Cardiac Systems
At this year's American College of Cardiology (ACC) annual meeting in Chicago, March 30-April 1, 2008 (Booth # 8001), Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. will be showcasing its Advanced Image Processing (AIP) technology for its Infinix™ X-ray product line. With AIP, physicians will be able to better visualize even the smallest interventional devices and provide better patient care to patients undergoing interventional procedures. (Read more...)

April 1, 2008
Toshiba Demonstrates Newest CT Software at ACC
Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. is committed to new CT clinical applications that improve throughput and workflow, while further reducing contrast and radiation dose to patients. At this year's American College of Cardiology annual meeting in Chicago, March 30-April 1, 2008 (Booth # 8001), Toshiba will demonstrate new applications that embody this commitment -- ^SURECardio™ Prospective and Variable Helical Pitch (vHP), which was recently cleared by the FDA. (Read more...)

March 31, 2008
Toshiba Introduces Aplio™ Artida™ -- New Cardiovascular Ultrasound Product at ACC
With its comprehensive applications, the Artida meets the demands of the growing cardiac 4D market. With Artida's real-time, multi-planar reformatting capabilities, physicians can quantify global and regional LV function, including LV ejection fraction, volume and severity of regurgitation. Arbitrary views of the heart not available in 2D imaging are also obtained that can help with surgical planning. (Read more...)

March 30, 2008
Toshiba Launches Breakthrough CT System — the Aquilion ONE
For the first time, physicians can see not only a three-dimensional depiction of an organ, but also the organ's dynamic blood flow and function. Unlike any other CT system, Toshiba's Aquilion ONE can scan one organ — including the heart, brain and others — in one rotation because it covers up to 16 cm of anatomy using 320 ultra high resolution 0.5 mm detector elements. This reduces exam time, as well as radiation and contrast dose. With the Aquilion ONE, the organ or area is captured in a single rotation at one moment in time, eliminating the need to reconstruct slices from multiple points in time. (Read more...)

March 28, 2008
FDA Approves CT Software from Toshiba to Reduce Radiation Dose and Improve Patient Care and Workflow
Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. has received FDA clearance for two new CT clinical applications that will improve throughput and enhance workflow, while further reducing contrast and radiation dosage. The applications, ^SURECardio™ Prospective and Variable Helical Pitch (vHP), are available for new Toshiba Aquilion™ 32- and 64-slice CT systems. (Read more...)

March 27, 2008
Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS) Events at American College of Cardiology Annual Meeting
Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is scheduled to be part of 29 separate sessions at this weekend's annual meeting of cardiologists in Chicago. In addition, IVUS will be used by interventionalists who will be performing 14 live procedures, to be broadcast to the Convention Center at McCormick Place from Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, and other medical centers in California, London, Germany, Japan and Australia. (Read more...)

March 24, 2008
Toshiba Installs Milestone 500th Vantage 1.5T MR System at Jefferson Regional Medical Center
Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc., an industry leader in magnetic resonance (MR) technology, reached a significant achievement in installing its 500th VantageTM 1.5T MR system at Jefferson Regional Medical Center (JRMC) in Pine Bluff, Ark. Citing Vantage image quality, patient comfort and Toshiba's gadolinium contrast-free techniques, JRMC will use the Vantage system for a variety of diagnostic procedures including orthopedic, head and abdomen imaging. (Read more...)

March 19, 2008
Wrist Angioplasty Associated with 50% Less Blood Transfusions and Lower Mortality
A study of over 30,000 patients that examined every angioplasty done in British Columbia from 1999-2005 was just published online (before print) in the British journal "Heart" and the conclusion carries an important message for the interventional cardiology community: trans-radial access was associated with a halving of transfusion rate and a reduction in 30 day and 1 year mortality. (Read more...)

March 18, 2008
Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles Now Enrolling Women With Recurrent Chest Pains For AWARE Clinical Trial
The Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute is recruiting female patients with recurrent chest pains who are not eligible for surgery to participate in a clinical trial studying an experimental product designed to promote blood vessel growth within the heart muscle. The AWARE trial will study the effects of Generx™ (Ad5FGF-4) in women for the potential treatment of myocardial ischemia (insufficient blood flow within the heart muscle) which can cause chest pains (angina) associated with coronary heart disease. (Read more...)

March 15, 2008
Cardium Reports Financial Results: Narrower Fourth Quarter Loss; Doubled Annual Revenues
Cardium Therapeutics (Amex: CXM), currently in development of several innovative medical therapies, yesterday reported a narrower fourth quarter loss, helped by more than double the
revenues in 2007 from the previous year. (Read more...)

March 15, 2008
Medicare Reverses Decision to Limit Coverage of Cardiac CT Heart Scans (updated)
To the relief of many in the cardiology and radiology community, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced this week that it will not change current coverage for Computed Tomographic Angiography (CTA). (Read more...)

March 14, 2008
Radial Angioplasty Course Set for St. Vincent's Hospital in New York
Dr. John T. Coppola, Chairman of Cardiology at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan, will be presenting his annual one-day course for cardiologists and related healthcare professionals, titled, "Complex Interventions via the Transradial Route", on April 2, 2008. The course is free of charge. (Read more...)

March 13, 2008
AWARE Clinical Trial Designed for Women with Heart Disease
Over 25 hospitals across the United States are currently participating in the AWARE clinical study to evaluate the effects 0f Generx™ (Ad5FGF-4) in women with recurrent angina who are not candidates for revascularization and who are receiving optimal drug therapy. The AWARE study is a women-only cardiovascular clinical study and reflects a growing awareness that heart disease in women is a major health issue. (Read more...)

March 12, 2008
Volcano Corporation Presentation at Cowen Healthcare Conference to be Webcast
Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC), a leading provider of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and functional measurement (FM) products designed to enhance the diagnosis and treatment of coronary and peripheral vascular disease, will be participating in the Cowen and Company 28th Annual Health Care Conference on Monday, March 17. The presentation by president and CEO, Scott Huennekens, will begin at 3:15 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time (12:15 Pacific Daylight Time). (Read more...)

March 11, 2008
Cardium's Corgentin Preclinical Program Shows High Levels of Targeting to Acutely Ischemic Heart Muscle Following Intracoronary Infusion
Cardium Therapeutics announced positive findings from its preclinical study being conducted by researchers at Emory University, which demonstrated highly efficient uptake of DNA-based vectors within acutely ischemic myocardium (heart muscle lacking sufficient blood flow as a result of blockage of the coronary arteries). (Read more...)

March 5, 2008
Heart Doctors Await Medicare's Decision on Reimbursement for Cardiac CT Scans
Next week the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is scheduled to announce a decision on coverage for Computed Tomographic Angiography, commonly called Cardiac CT or CT Angiography (CTA). This memo, if enacted, would represent a wholesale cut back in the utilization of coronary CT nationwide -- including its use in emergency situations. (Read more...)

February 27, 2008
New "Y"-Shaped Stent Studied by Medtronic
Today Medtronic, Inc. announced the first human use of its new investigational bifurcation stent. The new stent employs an innovative Y-shaped design to match the anatomy of lesions that form at the junctions of coronary arteries. Dr. Robert Whitbourn, associate professor and director of the Cardiovascular Research Centre at St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne, performed the first clinical implant of the new device on Feb. 25 as an investigator in the trial, dubbed the BRANCH study. (Read more...)

February 26, 2008
Toshiba Medical Names Girish T. Hagan as Vice President of Marketing
(Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc.)
Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. announced today that Girish T. Hagan has been named vice president of Marketing. Hagan will head Toshiba's business units including CT, MR, Ultrasound, X-ray and X-ray Vascular, as well as handle strategic marketing for Toshiba and its products in the medical imaging industry. The company adds that Hagan's expertise will build on Toshiba's strength in customer loyalty and technology innovation. (Read more...)

February 25, 2008
1 in 4 Heart Attack Victims Do Not Take Life-Saving Medications
(Reuters)
A surprising 25 percent of people who have survived a heart attack do not fill prescriptions for drugs that could prevent another one, Canadian researchers said Monday. They said people who filled none of their prescriptions had an 80 percent higher chance of dying a year after their heart attacks compared with those who filled all of them. (Read more...)

February 22, 2008
Only 1 in 4 Americans Knows Heart Attack Signs
(Mike Stobbe, Associated Press)
Only about 1 in 4 Americans know the warning signs of a heart attack and what to do first, according to a new government report from the Centers for Disease Control -- a decline in knowledge since the last survey in 2001. (Read more...)

February 22, 2008
Medical Device Manufacturers See Benefit from Democratic Healthcare Plans
(Kim Dixon, Reuters)
Makers of medical devices ranging from diagnostic tests to defibrillators stand to reap big benefits from U.S. health care system reforms backed by the leading Democratic presidential contenders Obama and Clinton. While some health care companies fear Democrats' plans to extend the reach of government's regulatory hand, that risk is offset for device makers by the prospect of a Democratic president broadening the market by extending insurance coverage to many of the 47 million individuals now without it. (Read more...)

February 17, 2008
Angioplasty from the Wrist: Transradial Approach Offers Benefits to Patients and Physicians
(Special Feature -- Angioplasty.Org)
Last week two catheterization suites at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City were taken over by cardiologists Dr. Howard Cohen and Dr. Kirk Garratt in order to teach visiting cardiologists how to perform angioplasty in a different way -- from the wrist. (Read more...)

February 13, 2008
New Terumo Glidecath® Catheter Yashiro Tip Shape Improves Access to Celiac Artery
Terumo Interventional Systems' proven Glidecath Hydrophilic Coated catheter product line makes way for the Yashiro tip shape; a new, three-dimensional U-shape tip for optimal entry to the celiac trunk. (Read more...)

February 12, 2008
Terumo Interventional Systems Expands Its Renowned Glidewire® Hydrophilic Coated Guidewire Product Line
With its unique double angle to facilitate the selection of vessels that lie at, or originate at, difficult to access angles and take-offs, the Bolia curve is among the new additions to the Terumo Glidewire Hydrophilic Coated Guidewire product line. (Read more...)

February 12, 2008
Volcano Reports 35% Increase in Quarterly Revenues; IVUS Disposable Revenues Increase 46%
"This growth in our IVUS business occurred despite a sluggish global PCI market. We believe the ease of use and integration provided by our s5 family of consoles, along with a growing volume of data demonstrating the value of IVUS in stenting procedures, is driving our increased market presence in the IVUS arena," he added. "We are encouraged by what appear to be recent favorable trends in stenting procedures and believe this will further the growth of our IVUS offerings," he continued. (Read more...)

February 7, 2008
Removing Clot Aids Heart Attack Recovery
(Stephanie Nano, AP News)
New research suggests that more people survive major heart attacks with fewer problems if doctors use a mini-vacuum to clear out an artery blockage instead of pushing it aside to restore blood flow. (Read more...)

February 7, 2008
Volcano Announces FDA 510(k) Clearance of Revolution Rotational Catheter and FFR for the s5i Integrated IVUS Console
These two new product offerings now enable rotational IVUS and FFR to operate on the same integrated Volcano s5 Imaging System as Volcano's previous line of phased array IVUS catheters and functionality. For the first time, physicians can choose among three powerful diagnostic tools -- all on the same integrated IVUS platform. (Read more...)

February 5, 2008
Stopping Plavix Doubles Risk of Heart Attack or Death for 90 Days, With or Without Stents
A study appearing in tomorrow's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports a two-fold increase in death and heart attack in the 90 days after heart patients completed their prescribed course of medical therapy with clopidogrel (Plavix). The study suggests there may be a rebound effect with clopidogrel that may have major implications for acute coronary syndrome and stent patients. A study author also makes recommendations for what patients should do. (Read more...)

February 1, 2008
FDA Approves Medtronic's Drug-Eluting Stent
Following the unanimous recommendation of its advisory panel in October, the FDA today approved Medtronic's Endeavo® Zotarolimus Drug-Eluting Stent System, making it the third DES available in the U.S. and the first approval in almost four years (Read more...)

February 1, 2008
NICE Issues Final Guidance on Drug-Eluting Stents for the Treatment of Coronary Artery Disease
The draft guidance recommends the use of drug-eluting stents (DES) for those patients who are at higher risk of needing further stents if a conventional bare-metal stent (BMS) were used instead. These patients have a coronary artery less than 3mm in diameter, or the segment of the artery to be treated is longer than 15mm. The draft guidance also states that drug eluting stents should only be used if the price difference between it and a bare metal stent is no more than £300. (Read more...)

January 28, 2008
FDA Approves Toshiba Medical's Vantage Titan MR System
With this clearance, Toshiba is on schedule to make the system commercially available in the first quarter of 2008. The open-bore of the Vantage Titan is 18 percent larger than other 1.5T systems on the market, featuring a large 71-centimeter patient aperture. (Read more...)

January 17, 2008
Terumo Partners with GHX for More Efficient Electronic Ordering Capabilities
Working with GHX and its Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system, Terumo Interventional Systems is looking to deliver providers what they want—when they want it. Through this e-commerce platform’s unique, streamlined process, hospitals are now easily able to place orders, generate receipts, and change and track orders with Terumo. (Read more...)

January 16, 2008
Emergency Angioplasty System is a Life-Saver in Ottawa, Canada
A reports in tomorrow's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine describes a protocol that reduced mortality in the emergency treatment of heart attacks in Canada's capital city of Ottawa during 2005-06. (Read more...)