A "silver lining" of the soaring number of drug overdose deaths: more organ donations, ranking fourth behind stroke, blunt trauma, and heart disease, the New York Times reports.
Vascular Solutions' Twin-Pass Dual Access catheters for catheterization procedures are being recalled due to excess material at the tip that can break off and embolize, although no injuries have been reported.
Medtronic upgraded two voluntary recalls of the HeartWare HVAD heart pump system to Class I recalls, after one patient was found to have possibly died due to the electrical/connection flaw.
The FDA application for clearance of the Meritas Troponin I Test and Point-of-Care Analyzer was withdrawn at the agency's suggestion over concerns about the device's operating temperature ranges and clinical performance. (StreetInsider)
The agency gave the greenlight to a sham-controlled pivotal trial of the eCoin neurostimulator implanted in the forearm to treat drug-resistant hypertension. (FierceBiotech)
European regulators cleared the injectable Lumee Oxygen Platform biosensors for monitoring tissue oxygen in patients with peripheral artery disease, and the Acumen Hypotension Probability Indicator for monitoring surgical and critical care patients. (FierceBiotech and Zacks)
A smart watch touted to detect impending cardiac arrest by heart rate and pulse oximetry monitoring debuted with support from Mehmet Oz, MD, of the eponymous TV show. (MedGadget)
"The Surgeon General is in. Are you?" FitBit says in advertising a national step count competition.
A 2014 JAMA Internal Medicine paper on cardiac rehabilitation was retracted and replaced, albeit with similar overall conclusions that rehab is underused and somewhat less so when the program is on site and patients live close to the facility.
A solution in which saphenous vein grafts can be stored between removal and implantation for coronary surgery showed lower risk of MI, repeat revascularization, and a composite of major adverse cardiac events in a retrospective, nonrandomized VA study presented at the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery meeting in Barcelona.
The CytoSorb blood purification cartridge reduced free plasma hemoglobin without safety concerns in the small REFRESH-1 trial in cardiac surgery patients, according to topline results announced by CytoSorbents.
Depression developed in about 19% of patients after diagnosis with chronic stable angina in a population-based cohort in Ontario, and it was associated with greater risk of death and MI. (Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes)
Giving statins in acute stroke patients getting thrombolysis was safe, the STARS trial reported in Stroke, although poor enrollment underpowered it for efficacy.
More sodium intake controversy: 25-year follow-up of the TOHP trials turned up increased mortality risk for high-sodium intake but an editorial pointed to a "disappointing" lack of difference in mortality between the randomized sodium reduction intervention arms. (Journal of the American College of Cardiology)
The novel agent revusiran, under development for hereditary ATTR amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy, ran aground after more deaths were reported in the treatment arm than with placebo in a phase III trial, Reuters reports. But a second novel agent (patisiran) for ATTR amyloidosis with polyneuropathy will proceed with development. (Wall Street Journal)
Breast arterial calcifications on routine mammography were again associated with cardiovascular disease-related morbidity and mortality in a 10-year study reported at the North American Menopause Society meeting in Orlando.