The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued its updated clinical guideline on the management of chronic heart failure in adults in primary and secondary care. In taking into account the wealth of new, high quality evidence that has been published since NICE’s original guideline in 2003, the new guideline provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date set of recommendations yet on the diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and monitoring of people with this condition.

Read the full story here

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have for the first time developed a way to visualize coronary artery plaques vulnerable to rupture using multi-color computed tomography (CT), an innovation that will lead to better and earlier diagnosis of cardiovascular disease. The data are published in the September issue of Radiology. Ruptures of atherosclerotic plaques are the cause of nearly 70 percent of heart attacks.

Read the full story here

GE Healthcare Medical Diagnostics announced the market reintroduction of Optison™ (Perflutren Protein-Type A Microspheres Injectable Suspension, USP), a diagnostic ultrasound contrast agent for use in select echocardiograms. Optison is indicated for use in patients with suboptimal echocardiograms to opacify the left ventricle and to improve the delineation of the left ventricular endocardial borders. The safety and efficacy of Optison with exercise stress or pharmacologic stress testing have not been established.

Read the full story here

Bayer announced that a novel, convenient single-drug treatment approach with oral rivaroxaban met the primary efficacy endpoint of non-inferiority in the EINSTEIN-DVT Phase III clinical trial and showed an overall relative risk reduction compared to the current standard therapy in the treatment of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) initial enoxaparin treatment, followed by a vitamin K antagonist. The primary efficacy outcome in this non-inferiority trial was the cumulative incidence of symptomatic recurrent venous thromboembolism.

Read the full story here

Researchers at the University of Leicester, England will use the state-of-the-art genetic techniques to examine DNA from over 20,000 patients with heart disease. The study will help to identify new genes and molecules responsible for Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). This, in turn may help to develop new diagnostic and treatment strategies. Preliminary findings from her research will be presented at the University of Leicester on 24 June.

Read the full story here

Resverlogix Corp. has announced that it has begun dosing patients in its US Phase 2 clinical trial lead by Cleveland Clinic. This trial will examine RVX-208, Resverlogix’s oral small molecule therapy for the treatment of atherosclerosis, in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD). The Cleveland Clinic has named this trial, ASSERT, which stands for ApoA1 Synthesis Stimulation Evaluation in Patients Requiring Treatment for Coronary Artery Disease.

For the full story, Click Here

According to the findings of a recent study published in Journal of the American College of Cardiology, cardiovascular health of the obese can undergo a notable improvement if they lose some weight by eating less and undertaking more physical activity. The two-year study, conducted by researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, found that weight loss in the obese improved some key measures of heart and vascular health.

For the Full Story, Click Here

The FDA approves Boehringer Ingelheim’s MICARDIS® (telmisartan) as the first treatment in its class to reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke, or death from cardiovascular causes in patients at high cardiovascular risk who are unable to take ACE inhibitors. This new indication is based on The ONTARGET Trial results which showed that MICARDIS® may prevent one in five serious CV events or death from cardiac causes.

The FDA has cleared the way for St Jude Medical Inc to launch its new EnSite velocity Cardiac Mapping System. The new system has been designed to help doctors diagnose and guide therapy to treat abnormal heart rhythms. The system, used in minimally invasive electrophysiology procedures, uses catheters with electrodes inserted into a cardiac chamber. The electrodes then relay electrical information from the heart in a 3-D anatomical model.

Philips has introduced new enhancements to its Xcelera multimodality cardiology image management, analysis and reporting solution. Xcelera R3.1 has new telecardiology capabilities to support clinical workflow and help provide faster sharing capabilities for cardiac patient information. Telecardiology allows remote access to cardiac information, including from a home office computer, image sharing with referring physicians and the ability to access Xcelera functionality through other applications such as an electronic health records (EHR) system.