Drug-eluting stents (DES or coated stents, or medicated stents) have been touted as solving one of the biggest problems of interventional coronary treatment: restenosis -- or reclosure of the artery. And the "Stent Wars" among the various manufacturers continue. The original DES (Boston Scientific's TAXUS Johnson & Johnson/Cordis CYPHER) are vying for U.S. market share with two second generation stents: Medtronic's Endeavor (pictured left) which was approved in February 2008 and Abbott's Xience, approved in July 2008.

For more information, features and interviews, visit our Drug-Eluting Stent Center.

August 10, 2010
DES 'n' DAPT: The OPTIMIZE Trial and Drug-Eluting Stents
Commentary from the Editor's Blog: Do patients understand that they must take dual antiplatelet drugs for a year or more after drug-eluting stent implantation? Is it possible that a year may not be necessary? The OPTIMIZE and SEASIDE Trials may provide some answers. The DAPT Trial, not so much. (Read more...)

August 8, 2010
Medtronic Opens Patient Care Centre in Beijing, China
Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) today opened a Patient Care Centre in Beijing, China, the first of its kind in China and worldwide where patients and their relatives meet with medical technology experts and physicians to discuss medical technology options to treat the patient's chronic disease. The Medtronic Patient Care Centre is operated in cooperation with the National Centre for Cardiovascular Diseases (NCCD) of China. (Read more...)

August 6, 2010
Medtronic Completes Enrollment in Clinical Study of Complete SE® (Self-Expanding) Vascular Stent
With an expanded focus on addressing peripheral arterial disease (PAD), Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), today announced that it has completed enrollment in a clinical trial of the company’s Complete SE (self-expanding) vascular stent for the treatment of atherosclerosis in the superficial femoral artery (SFA), including the proximal popliteal artery (PPA), which runs under the skin of the thigh. (Read more...)

August 5, 2010
First Patient Treated with Medtronic’s Valiant® Thoracic Stent Graft in Aortic Dissection Trial
Marking a major milestone toward expanding the use and utility of minimally invasive endovascular procedures, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), today announced the enrollment of the first patient in the Medtronic Dissection Trial, which is evaluating the clinical performance of the Valiant Thoracic Stent Graft with the Captivia Delivery System for the treatment of acute, complicated Type B aortic dissection – a serious cardiovascular condition associated with high morbidity and mortality. (Read more...)

June 23, 2010
To Stent or Not To Stent: Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) Trumps Angiography in Diagnosing Blockages up to 90%
The authors of a new study pubished in JACC conclude: "In patients with multivessel CAD, coronary angiography is an inappropriate tool to identify ischemia-producing stenoses as detected by the FFR. This discrepancy between angiographic and functional stenosis severity is not only present in the 50% to 70% stenosis range but also in the 71% to 90% stenosis range." (Read more...)

May 27, 2010
Stent Helpers: IVUS, OCT and FFR -- Intravascular Tools At EuroPCR
Commentary from the Editor's Blog: Three intravascular imaging/therapeutic modalities have been making news this month, both in the U.S. and in Paris at the EuroPCR meeting ending tomorrow. They are Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS) and Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR). (Read more...)

May 26, 2010
Medtronic CoreValve® System Shows Long-Term Efficacy and Durability in Pivotal Trial
New clinical data presented today at EuroPCR demonstrate positive long-term performance and durability for the CoreValve transcatheter aortic valve replacement system from Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT). Two-year results from the pivotal 18-French CoreValve multicenter prospective study provide important additional evidence supporting wider use of the world’s market-leading transcatheter aortic valve. (Read more...)

May 25, 2010
Multiple European Clinical Registries Show Important Benefits of Medtronic CoreValve® Transcatheter Aortic Valve System
New European data from five national clinical registries presented today at EuroPCR report positive clinical outcomes for one of the most exciting emerging therapies in cardiology – transcatheter aortic valve implantation for treatment of severe aortic stenosis. The registries’ results demonstrate encouraging clinical outcomes for more than 2,000 patients treated with the CoreValve percutaneous aortic valve system from Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT). (Read more...)

May 25, 2010
Medtronic’s Resolute® Drug-Eluting Stent Matches Market-Leading Rival in Large Head-To-Head Study
At one year, the Resolute DES was shown to be as effective as the Xience DES in reducing the need for repeat procedures, and both second-generation stents were associated with low and similar rates of death from cardiac causes and heart attacks attributed to the treated vessel. (Read more...)

May 20, 2010
Cardiovascular Devices from Medtronic Featured Prominently at EuroPCR
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), announced today the schedule of important clinical data presentations during EuroPCR, a major cardiology meeting taking place May 25–28 in Paris at the Palais de Congrès. The meeting will prominently feature several of Medtronic’s innovative cardiovascular devices, including the Resolute coronary drug-eluting stent, the IN.PACT line of coronary and peripheral drug-eluting balloons, and the CoreValve transcatheter aortic valve replacement system. (Read more...)

May 19, 2010
First Patient Treated with Valiant® Thoracic Stent Graft in Medtronic’s “RESCUE” Clinical Study
Further demonstrating its commitment to proving the benefits of minimally-invasive procedures, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), today announced that the first patient has been treated with the company’s Valiant® Thoracic Stent Graft with the Captivia Delivery System in Medtronic’s RESCUE Clinical Study. (Read more...)

May 16, 2010
Stent Inventor's New Ideas
From the Editor's Blog: Stent pioneer Dr. Julio Palmaz was in the news this week regarding a $3 million investment made in his company Palmaz Scientific by the State of Texas. Steve Solomon, CEO of Palmaz Scientific, states that his company "will use a portion of the money to help secure approval in the European market of its Sesame stent, which has a special microscopic mesh coating that helps reduce the effect of impurities in the metal tube. The state funds also will be devoted to buying equipment and hiring engineers to spur the development of next-generation stents." (Read more...)

May 5, 2010
The New England Journal of Medicine Publication of SPIRIT IV Trial Results Confirm Superior Safety and Efficacy of Abbott's XIENCE V® Drug Eluting Stent Compared to TAXUS
Findings from Abbott’s SPIRIT IV trial, one of the largest randomized clinical trials comparing two drug eluting stents, with 3,690 U.S.-based patients, were published today in The New England Journal of Medicine. The published study results show that one year after a stenting procedure, patients treated with Abbott’s market-leading XIENCE V® Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System were significantly less likely to have a major adverse event such as a heart attack, repeat procedure or cardiac death, compared to patients treated with a TAXUS® Express2™ Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System (TAXUS). (Read more...)

April 21, 2010
Medtronic Receives FDA Approval for New Indication for Complete® SE Vascular Stent
Broadening the scope of innovation for cardiovascular interventions beyond the heart, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), announced today that it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the Complete® SE Vascular Stent System to be used for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in the iliac arteries, major blood vessels within the pelvis that supply blood to the lower extremities. (Read more...)

April 13, 2010
TCT 2010 to Feature New Heart Stents, Catheter-Based Valve Repair/Replacement and Drug Effectiveness
TCT 2010 (Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics) will provide significant clinical research updates to technologies and practices in interventional cardiology that will directly affect patient care. At TCT 2010 (September 21-25 in Washington, DC), late breaking data from clinical trials on the next generation of stents, valve repair and replacement, and the interactions and effectiveness of new medicines will shed light on the best ways to treat patients. (Read more...)

March 16, 2010
If Women Were Treated More Like Men, Would Survival After Heart Attack Improve?
Women might be more likely to survive a heart attack if they were treated more like men, with increased use of angioplasty and other invasive techniques, according to research presented today at the ACC 59th annual scientific session. In a multicenter study of more than 3,000 patients admitted to the hospital for a heart attack, women were far less likely than men to go to the cardiac catheterization laboratory for angiography or angioplasty, and about twice as likely to die within a month of having the heart attack. But when a special statistical method was used to closely match patients by both baseline clinical characteristics and treatments, death rates were similar among men and women. (Read more...)

March 15, 2010
Stent News from the ACC.10: Monday
All four U.S. stent manufacturers were represented in various studies presented at today's 59th Annual Scientific Sessions of the American College of Cardiology in Atlanta, GA, an event attended by an estimated 16,000 cardiology professionals. The studies revealed data about old vs. new devices, and the results ranged from unsurprising to controversial to unparalleled. (Read more...)

March 15, 2010
Medtronic Responds to SORT-OUT III Stent Study
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), responded today to the questionable findings of SORT-OUT III, a Danish study comparing the Endeavor and Cypher drug-eluting stents. The company’s criticisms cover the study’s unconventional design and analytical methods, which are biased against Medtronic’s Endeavor stent in favor of Johnson & Johnson’s Cypher stent. (Read more...)

March 15, 2010
PERSEUS Trial Results Demonstrate Positive Safety and Efficacy Outcomes for Boston Scientific's Novel Platinum Chromium TAXUS® Element™ Stent System
Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) today announced 12-month results from its PERSEUS clinical program that demonstrated positive safety and efficacy outcomes in workhorse lesions for the platinum chromium TAXUS® Element™ Paclitaxel-Eluting Stent System compared to the TAXUS® Express2™ Paclitaxel-Eluting Stent System. (Read more...)

March 15, 2010
Abbott Announces Positive Data From ABSORB Trial on Its Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold Technology
Abbott today announced positive 30-day results from the first 101 patients enrolled in the second phase of the ABSORB trial. Patients treated with Abbott's bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS), under clinical investigation in Europe, demonstrated no cases of blood clots (thrombosis), no need for repeat procedures (ischemia-driven target lesion revascularization) and a very low rate of major adverse cardiac events (MACE rate of 2.0 percent) at 30 days. (Read more...)

March 14, 2010
Endeavor Stent: 5-Year Data Show Safety and Efficacy Advantage
The presentation at today's American College of Cardiology meeting of the 5-Year clinical results from ENDEAVOR III, along with the results of Medtronic's (NYSE: MDT) pooled Endeavor Trials Program, offers what may be a new paradigm for judging clinical trial results. Especially when taken together with recent findings from such studies as FAME and ODESSA, angiographic late lumen loss, one of the standards by which the performance of drug-eluting stents initially has been judged, may not be as significant a factor as once thought. (Read more...)

March 14, 2010
Medtronic's Endeavor Stent Continues to Demonstrate Compelling and Consistent Long-Term Clinical Results
The consistency and quality of the long-term clinical results for the Endeavor(R) drug-eluting stent (DES) from Medtronic, Inc. continue to distinguish it as a treatment for coronary artery disease, according to newly released data. Five-year findings from the comprehensive ENDEAVOR program were released today at ACC.10, the American College of Cardiology's 59th Scientific Session. (Read more...)

March 13, 2010
Medtronic Starts International Study of CoreValve® Transcatheter Aortic Valve System
Moving to expand the evidence base for the future of structural heart disease therapy, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), today announced the start of the first of several new initiatives in a robust international clinical program for its CoreValve transcatheter aortic valve system, a minimally-invasive alternative to open-heart surgery for aortic valve replacement. (Read more...)

March 13, 2010
Excel Trial Will Determine Safety and Efficacy of Drug-Eluting Stents vs. Bypass Surgery in Patients with Left Main Coronary Artery Disease
The announcement of a new clinical trial, EXCEL (Evaluation of Xience Prime versus Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery for Effectiveness of Left Main Revascularization), that will compare drug-eluting stents to coronary artery bypass graft surgery in patients with left main coronary artery disease, was made today at “Optimizing PCI Outcomes: Evolving Paradigms,” a symposium presented by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation. (Read more...)

March 12, 2010
FDA Alert: Plavix May Be Less Effective in Some Patients with Genetic Variation
What some clinicians have known about for some time is now official: the U.S. Food and Drug Administration today added a boxed warning to the drug Plavix (clopidogrel) stating that, in some patients with a genetic variation of the cytochrome CYP2C19, Plavix may not be metabolized properly and therefore may not be effective for the indicated therapy. (Read more...)

March 11, 2010
Three Months of Plavix After Stent: When Less May Be More
When trials are testing 12 and 30 months of Plavix plus aspirin after stenting. a new study in Brazil is testing whether three months may be enough. Dr. Fausto Feres discusses his OPTIMIZE trial with Medtronic's Endeavor zotarolimus-eluting stent. (Read more...)

March 11, 2010
Interview with Dr. Fausto Feres: Is Three Months of Antiplatelet Therapy After the Endeavor Zotarolimus-Eluting Stent Enough?
In this exclusive interview, Dr. Feres explains the novel nature of this 3,000 patient trial which is measuring patient outcomes after only three months of dual antiplatelet therapy when used with Medtronic's Endeavor ZES. OPTIMIZE is unique because, due to concerns over late stent thrombosis, other trials are testing periods of one to three years -- Dr. Feres' hypothesis is that the Endeavor zotarolimus-eluting stent heals more quickly and therefore patients do not need to be taking aspirin plus Plavix for more than three months. If borne out, these finding could have important implications for cost-savings as well as patient safety. (Read more...)

February 19, 2010
Plavix After Stents: How Long?
Commentary from the Editor's Blog: Current guidelines are for a year or more of dual antiplatelet therapy after drug-eluting stents. But how did we arrive at that number and what research is currently being done? Should it be a longer period, or shorter? (Read more...)

February 16, 2010
Stents Downgraded by Wall Street Journal: If Only It Were That Simple
A broad-based critique, claiming overuse of heart stents and angioplasty, was published as a major feature in Thursday's Wall Street Journal. There's no question that the COURAGE study raised important issues, but the WSJ piece oversimplifies its implications and leaves out some critically important points. (Read more...)

February 16, 2010
Interview with Dr. Eric J. Topol: Optimal Antiplatelet Therapy After Stenting
Commenting on the very large DAPT trial, Dr. Topol says, "The notion that we should treat all patients for X duration is totally crazy. It completely goes against all the evidence that every patient is an individual with a separate biologic story.... I'm amazed that it's going forward." In this interview, Dr. Topol discusses the work his Institute at Scripps is doing in genomic studies of platelet responsiveness and its implications in determining the optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy. (Read more...)

February 12, 2010
Clinton and Eisenhower: Presidents, Hearts, Stents and 55 Years
Commentary from the Editor's Blog: It's a holiday concurrence: Valentine's Day and President's Day and American Heart Month -- and former President Bill Clinton who got his heart fixed six years ago and just got a "tune-up", is already back home. This was not the case 55 years ago when Dwight D. Eisenhower suffered a massive heart attack. (Read more...)

February 11, 2010
Bill Clinton Has Angioplasty, Receives Two Stents
Former President Bill Clinton "is in good spirits" and recovering from a successful angioplasty procedure in which two stents were placed, according to Clinton spokesman Douglas Band. (Read more...)

February 10, 2010
Drug-Eluting Stents Safe and Effective for Treatment of In-Stent Restenosis
From Arezzo, Italy come long-term large registry data demonstrating the successful use of sirolimus-eluting stents for the treatment of re-occluded bare metal stents. In the current issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Dr. Francesco Liistro and his colleagues at the Ospedale San Donato report that after four years, the clinical benefit seen at nine months has held steady with a need to reopen the artery only 11% of the time. (Read more...)

February 5, 2010
Patent Spending
Boston Scientific spends almost $2 billion to settle its long-standing patent issues with Johnson & Johnson. (Read more...)

February 1, 2010
Boston Scientific Settles Longstanding Patent Disputes With J&J
Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) announced the settlement of three patent disputes with Johnson & Johnson (J&J). The disputes date back to 2003 and cover Boston Scientific's Jang patent and J&J's Palmaz and Gray patents, all of which involve intellectual property in the cardiovascular arena. Boston Scientific will make a $1.725 billion payment to J&J in connection with the settlement. (Read more...)

January 26, 2010
Approvals and Acquisitions: Medtronic Continues Expanding Beyond the Coronaries
With the FDA's approval of its Melody Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve, the first percutaneous valve to be approved in the U.S., and its acquisition of European-based Invatec, Medtronic is positioning itself to expand its interventional cardiology portfolio well beyond the coronary arteries. (Read more...)

January 25, 2010
Stent Manufacturers Donate Millions To Haiti Earthquake Relief
In the two weeks since a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, the major U.S.-based stent manufacturers have responded by pledging over three million dollars of aid for both immediate and long-term relief efforts. (Read more...)

January 15, 2010
Medtronic Pledges Over $250,000 to Haiti Earthquake Relief
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) announced today that it has pledged $150,000 through the Medtronic Foundation to support earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. The Foundation will match employee donations up to $50,000, with matching funds directed to Partners in Health. An additional $100,000 grant will be directed to the rebuilding of community health clinics in Haiti. Employees worldwide also are offered five days of paid leave to assist in recovery efforts. (Read more...)

December 8, 2009
Medtronic Hires Renowned Cardiologist as Vice President of Medical Affairs for Coronary and Peripheral Business
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), today announced the hire of Prof. Martin Rothman as vice president of medical affairs for the company’s coronary and peripheral vascular business. Prof. Rothman will join Medtronic after 37 years of clinical practice in the U.K. as an interventional cardiologist. He is world renowned for his contributions to clinical research, training and education, and medical technology innovation in cardiovascular medicine. (Read more...)

December 2, 2009
Medtronic Names Michael J. Coyle as Executive Vice President and Group President of Cardiology Businesses
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE:MDT), today announced the appointment of Michael J. Coyle as executive vice president and group president of its Cardiology businesses. Coyle will lead all aspects of the group, which includes the company’s Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management (CRDM), CardioVascular and Physio-Control businesses. He will be a member of the Executive Committee and report to Chairman and CEO Bill Hawkins. (Read more...)

November 25, 2009
Medtronic CEO William Hawkins to Speak at 21st Annual Piper Jaffray Healthcare Conference
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), the world's leading medical technology company, today announced it will participate in the 21st Annual Piper Jaffray Healthcare Conference on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009, in New York. (Read more...)

November 24, 2009
Medtronic Second Quarter Revenue Increases 8% to $3.838 Billion; Raises EPS Guidance for Current Fiscal Year
"Our solid financial performance this quarter was driven by consistent execution across our diversified portfolio of businesses," said Bill Hawkins, Medtronic chairman and chief executive officer. "We are well-positioned to deliver on our commitments for the balance of our fiscal year and to launch innovative new products to drive further growth in the coming years." (Read more...)

November 19, 2009
Medtronic Chairman and CEO Bill Hawkins Comments on U.S. Senate's Revised Medical Device Industry Fee Proposal
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), chairman and CEO Bill Hawkins today issued a statement regarding the U.S. Senate’s revised proposal regarding a medical device industry fee released yesterday. This new proposal amends the Senate Finance Committee’s earlier proposed $40 billion fee on the medical device industry. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken were instrumental in reducing the size of the proposal in the Senate. Their efforts will serve to protect innovation and jobs while advancing meaningful healthcare reform. (Read more...)

October 13, 2009
Medtronic Starts Study of Interventional Erectile Dysfunction Therapy
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), announced today the initiation of a feasibility study of an interventional treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED) that uses a specially-designed drug-eluting stent system. The study, called ZEN (Zotarolimus-Eluting Peripheral Stent System for the Treatment of Erectile Dysfunction in Males with Sub-Optimal Response to PDE5 Inhibitors), is being performed under an investigational device exemption (IDE) issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is expected to enroll a total of 50 subjects at up to ten medical centers in the United States over the next year. (Read more...)

September 23, 2009
Abbott's XIENCE V® Drug-Eluting Stent Superior to Boston Scientific's TAXUS® at One Year
A new study shows that after one year the second generation XIENCE V drug-eluting stent from Abbott was more effective in keeping coronary arteries open than Boston Scientific's older TAXUS stent. In presenting the results of the SPIRIT IV clinical trial at this morning's session of the TCT 2009 in San Francisco, principal investigator Dr. Gregg W. Stone stated, "The SPIRIT IV results show that XIENCE V significantly reduces a patient's risk of experiencing a heart attack, the need for a repeat procedure or stent thrombosis." (Read more...)

September 21, 2009
Medtronic’s Resolute® Drug-Eluting Stent Maintains Strong, Sustained Efficacy and Safety in Long-Term Follow-Up
New clinical data released today at a major meeting of interventional cardiologists show strong and sustained efficacy and safety of the Resolute® Zotarolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent from Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) in long-term patient follow-up. The single-arm RESOLUTE trial (n=129) demonstrates a low, 1.6 percent cumulative rate of target lesion revascularization (TLR) – or repeat procedures to treat the previously stented portion of the vessel – with no new TLRs between two and three years of follow-up. (Read more...)

September 21, 2009
Endeavor® Stent Reduced Risk of Heart Attack/Cardiac Death by 48% at Three Years Compared to Taxus® Stent in Large Study
Three year data for the Endeavor IV study of 1,548 patients announced today show that when compared to Boston Scientific's Taxus stent, Medtronic's Endeavor had significantly lower heart attack/cardiac death rates, as well as much lower late and very late stent thrombosis. (Read more...)

September 18, 2009
Medtronic Expects New Data on Drug-Eluting Stents and Transcatheter Heart Valves to Feature at TCT 2009
Expecting new data on drug-eluting stents and transcatheter heart valves to feature prominently at Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2009 next week in San Francisco, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), today announced plans to showcase its innovative cardiovascular product portfolio, technology pipeline and clinical research at the world’s premier annual meeting for interventional cardiologists. (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 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...)

August 22, 2009
Drug-Eluting Stents: Looking Back
From The Editor's Blog: This past month has offered an odd bit of reminiscence about an object of ongoing interest: the drug-eluting stent (DES). First a study from Duke was published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes and it detailed the Fall of the drug-eluting stent -- a.k.a. the Fall of 2006, when various studies about increased risk of blood clotting (a.k.a. Late Stent Thrombosis) in drug-eluting stents after six months were presented at the European Society of Cardiology meeting (a.k.a. the "DES firestorm"). (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 19, 2009
FALSE: Stents Denied to Patients Over 59
A false meme has been circulating that the British National Health Service (NHS) denies stents to patients older than 59...and that Obama's health care reform will follow the NHS guidelines. Totally wrong! This lie has been circulated worldwide in an anonymous email and somehow has found its way into articles, op-ed pieces, etc. and is clearly part of an organized campaign to scare elderly citizens into opposing health care reform. (Read more...)

August 14, 2009
Medtronic to Announce Financial Results for Its First Fiscal Quarter
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), announced today it will report financial results for its first fiscal quarter on Tuesday, August 25, 2009. The earnings news release will include summary financial information for Medtronic’s first quarter ended July 31, 2009. (Read more...)

August 6, 2009
Medtronic Awarded $57 Million in Patent Dispute with AGA Medical Corporation
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), announced today that a federal U.S. district court jury in San Francisco awarded it $57 million in past damages, finding that AGA Medical Corp.’s manufacture, sale and use of its Amplatzer® Occluder and vascular plug product lines infringed claims of two U.S. patents owned by Medtronic. The jury also ordered that AGA pay Medtronic a royalty of 11% on future U.S. sales of the infringing products through 2018. (Read more...)

July 27, 2009
Medtronic and Abbott Laboratories Resolve Global Vascular Patent Disputes
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE:MDT) today announced global resolution of all outstanding intellectual property litigation with Abbott Laboratories. Terms of the agreement stipulate that neither party will sue each other in the field of coronary stent and stent delivery systems for a period of at least 10 years, subject to certain conditions. (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 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...)

May 19, 2009
Endeavor Drug-Eluting Stent Is First to Receive CE Mark for Treating Acute Coronary Syndrome
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), today announced that its Endeavor drug-eluting stent (DES) is the first and only coronary stent to have received CE (Conformité Européene) Mark approval for treating patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), which includes unstable angina and acute myocardial infarction (AMI), commonly known as heart attack. (Read more...)

May 19, 2009
New Data From ENDEAVOR-II Challenges Conventional Wisdom on Drug-Eluting Stents
In ENDEAVOR-II (n=1,197), a randomized controlled trial comparing Medtronic’s Endeavor drug-eluting stent (DES) to its Driver bare-metal stent (BMS), patients treated with the Endeavor DES required fewer repeat procedures at five years post-implant than many observers and analysts would have expected based on the results of other trials with comparable designs. With clinical data from ENDEAVOR-II now through five years of follow-up, the Endeavor DES continues to show a distinctively low and durable plateau in the rate of target lesion revascularization (TLR), a standard measure of efficacy for coronary stents. (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 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 15, 2009
New Data on Endeavor Stent's Long-Term Safety and Efficacy to Be Featured at Interventional Cardiology Congress
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), today announced planned highlights of new data presentations scheduled for the 2009 PCR meeting that feature the company’s cardiovascular innovations. From late breaking clinical trials, extensive new data on the Endeavor® Drug-Eluting Stent (DES) will be presented, which shows unprecedented long-term efficacy for a DES. (Read more...)

May 14, 2009
Medtronic Completes Enrollment in International Post-Market Study of Resolute Drug-Eluting Stent
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), today announced completion of enrollment in RESOLUTE International, a post-market study of its Resolute Drug-Eluting Stent (DES). One-year data from this international study, which enrolled 2,464 patients at 88 sites from 17 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, are expected in the second half of 2010. (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 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...)

April 27, 2009
Medtronic Starts Enrollment in THRIVE, U.S. Post-Market Study of the Talent™ Thoracic Stent Graft
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), today reported the start of THRIVE, the company's U.S. post-market clinical study of its Talent Thoracic Stent Graft for the endovascular repair of thoracic aortic aneurysms. (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 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 28, 2009
Two-Year Data for Medtronic Drug-Eluting Stent Shows Continued Safety and Effectiveness
Two-year results for more than 2,000 patients in the international, E-Five study of Medtronic's Endeavor Zotarolimus-eluting Stent show that the stent was associated with a low rate of both overall (0.7 percent) and very late stent thrombosis (VLAST) at 0.1 percent. (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 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
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
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 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 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...)

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 3, 2009
Boston Scientific Begins Clinical Trial Enrollment for New Everolimus-Eluting Stent
The PLATINUM clinical program will enroll 1,728 patients at 160 sites worldwide. The trial will compare the PROMUS™ Element™ Everolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent to the PROMUS Everolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent. The Company plans to develop additional variations of the Element Stent platform, including next generations of a bare-metal stent and a paclitaxel-eluting TAXUS® Element Stent. (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 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 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 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 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...)