Medtronic Relocates Its Regional Headquarters to Dubai
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), the world's largest medical technology company, providing therapies to treat many conditions including cardiac and vascular diseases, diabetes, neurological and spinal conditions, today announced the relocation of its regional Middle East and Africa (MEA) headquarters to Dubai. The company will relocate all its regional operations to TECOM Investment's DuBiotech. DuBiotech is a freezone dedicated to facilitating and fostering growth of the life sciences industry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). (Source: News from Angioplasty.Org)
Source: News from Angioplasty.Org - February 3, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: news
FDA Approves Medtronic's Valiant Captivia Stent Graft for Treatment of Aortic Dissections
Currently type B aortic dissections are managed in three ways: emergency open surgical repair, medical management, and endovascular repair. Today, the FDA approved a new indication for an endovascular device, the Valiant Captivia Thoracic Stent Graft System, made by Medtronic, based on the positive results of the DISSECTION Trial. The trial met its primary safety endpoint by achieving an 8% all-cause mortality rate at 30 days, which represents, according to the company's press release, a three-to-four-fold mortality improvement over open surgical repair. (Source: News from Angioplasty.Org)
Source: News from Angioplasty.Org - January 29, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: news
$3.4 Million Grant to Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute for Chronic Total Occlusion PCI Study
Chronic total occlusions (CTO) historically have been one of the most difficult and challenging areas for minimally invasive treatment with angioplasty and stents. This $3.4 million grant being given to Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute by Boston Scientific will aid in helping to "better define the success, safety, health benefits, and cost-effectiveness of novel methods to open challenging blocked coronary arteries previously thought untreatable through minimally invasive techniques." (Source: News from Angioplasty.Org)
Source: News from Angioplasty.Org - January 28, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: news
Boston Scientific Names Dr. Craig Thompson Chief Medical Officer for Interventional Cardiology
Boston Scientific started off its New Year by naming Craig A. Thompson, MD, MMSc, as the new Chief Medical Officer for Interventional Cardiology. Dr. Thompson is well-known to the field, having served as Director of the Cardiovascular Catheterization Laboratory at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and most recently Director, Invasive Cardiology and Vascular Medicine at Yale New Haven Hospital. Dr. Thompson has presented regularly at professional symposia and specifically on two topics that we at Angioplasty.Org have been covering for some time: intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and the transradial approach to diagnostic...
Source: News from Angioplasty.Org - January 24, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: news
FDA Approves Medtronic's CoreValve; Device Available Immediately in U.S.
This morning the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Medtronic's self-expanding transcatheter CoreValve® system for patients who are too sick to withstand traditional aortic valve replacement open heart surgery. Although an approval had been expected during the first half of this year, today's announcement took the cardiology community by surprise. The CoreValve sytem is now the second transcatheter aortic valve device available in the U.S., breaking the monopoly currently enjoyed by the Edwards Sapien valve for high risk patients. A Medtronic spokesperson confirmed to Angioplasty.Org that the CoreValve is availabl...
Source: News from Angioplasty.Org - January 17, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: news
Edwards and Medtronic: "Valve Wars"
A decade ago it was "stent wars"; now it's "valve wars." Percutaneous transcatheter aortic valve replacements to be exact: also called TAVR or TAVI. With these new devices, an aortic valve replacement (or implantation) can be accomplished using catheter-based techniques similar to coronary angioplasty, and without the need for open surgery. And when the competition is fierce, the patent suits appear: today a federal jury handed a victory to Edwards, finding "willful infringement" by Medtronic of Edwards' Cribier patent, and awarding $394 million in damages. Medtronic immediately announced that it would appeal the verdict. ...
Source: News from Angioplasty.Org - January 15, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: news
New Medtronic Multi-Electrode Renal Denervation Device Gets CE Mark and Australian Approval
Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) has announced that its multi-electrode Symplicity Spyral™ catheter and Symplicity G3™ radio frequency (RF) generator for patients with treatment-resistant hypertension has received both the CE Mark (Conformité Européenne) in Europe and Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) listing in Australia. (Source: News from Angioplasty.Org)
Source: News from Angioplasty.Org - December 7, 2013 Category: Cardiology Source Type: news
Volcano Corporation Announces First Commercial Implantations of Crux® Vena Cava Filter
Volcano Corporation (NASDAQ: VOLC) today announced the commercial release and initial implantations of its innovative Crux® Vena Cava Filter (VCF) in patients at risk for recurrent pulmonary embolism (PE). It is the only filter with a double helical design that self-centers to help prevent filter tilt and offers the Bi-Trieval™ option of retrieval via either the jugular or femoral vein. (Source: News from Angioplasty.Org)
Source: News from Angioplasty.Org - November 16, 2013 Category: Cardiology Source Type: news
Medtronic to Resume Sales of CoreValve System in Germany
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) announced that a German court today ordered the discontinuation, in its entirety, of a prior court ruling that prohibited Medtronic from commercially marketing or selling the CoreValve® System in Germany since August 26, 2013. The Higher Regional Court Karlsruhe explained that, due to the European Patent Office (EPO) preliminary opinion that the Edwards' EP2055266 Spenser patent claims are not valid, it could not assume "with sufficient likelihood" that the Spenser patent is valid. (Source: News from Angioplasty.Org)
Source: News from Angioplasty.Org - November 14, 2013 Category: Cardiology Source Type: news
Best Uses from SCAI for Intravascular Ultrasound, Fractional Flow Reserve and Optical Coherence Tomography Tools
This morning the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) issued a guidance document for the use of three major intra-coronary diagnostic tools for use in stenting and angioplasty. Published in the society's journal, Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, the document details the best use of intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS), Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) as they relate to the diagnosis and optimal placements of stents. (Source: News from Angioplasty.Org)
Source: News from Angioplasty.Org - November 14, 2013 Category: Cardiology Source Type: news
Medtronic's CoreValve: Very Positive One-Year Results from Pivotal U.S. Trial
The one-year results from Medtronic's (NYSE: MDT) pivotal U.S. trial for the CoreValve transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) device were presented recently at the 25th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference in San Francisco, and the results in the extremely risky patient cohort were so clearly favorable that the FDA has waived the requirement for the usual expert panel discussion. (Source: News from Angioplasty.Org)
Source: News from Angioplasty.Org - November 8, 2013 Category: Cardiology Source Type: news
30 Days Results of Boston Scientific's Lotus TAVR Valve Presented at TCT
At the recent Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) Conference in San Francisco, Boston Scientific's entry into the transaortic valve replacement (TAVR) field was highlighted in a First Report Investigation report of the REPRISE II Trial, studying the Lotus Valve. Dr. Ian Meredith of the Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne, Australia, presented the 30-day results of 120 patients who received this unique repositionable valve. (Source: News from Angioplasty.Org)
Source: News from Angioplasty.Org - November 8, 2013 Category: Cardiology Source Type: news
FDA Approves Medtronic Renal Denervation Study for Moderate Uncontrolled Hypertension
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) has announced enrollment of its first patient in a new U.S. clinical trial of renal denervation, this one targeted to test the efficacy of this technology in patients with moderate uncontrolled hypertension. The SYMPLICTY HTN-4 clinical trial will be the first randomized, controlled clinical trial ever to investigate renal denervation in patients with moderate uncontrolled hypertension; it is the second renal denervation trial that Medtronic has launched in the United States. (Source: News from Angioplasty.Org)
Source: News from Angioplasty.Org - November 5, 2013 Category: Cardiology Source Type: news
iFR Can Reduce Use of Adenosine, Saving Time and Costs in Assessing Need for Stents
When Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) has been used as a decision-making tool in the DEFER, FAME and FAME II studies, the use of stenting declined by one-third, saving costs for the healthcare system and significantly improving outcomes for patients. One drawback to FFR, however, is that a vasodilator, such as adenosine, must be given to the patient to measure the blood flow accurately: this increases costs and often causes discomfort for the patient. In the past few years, however, a new measurement has been developed by researchers in London and is being commercialized by Volcano Corporation (NASDAQ: VOLC). Called iFR (Inst...
Source: News from Angioplasty.Org - November 5, 2013 Category: Cardiology Source Type: news
For Stent Procedures Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS) Improves Outcomes and Reduces Complications: ADAPT-DES
Two-year results from the largest study to date of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) use during angioplasty and stent placement were presented at the 25th Annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics meeting in San Francisco last week, and the numbers were pretty clear: IVUS use showed 53% less stent thrombosis, 38% lower rate of myocardial infarction (heart attack) and 34% less incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE). (Source: News from Angioplasty.Org)
Source: News from Angioplasty.Org - November 5, 2013 Category: Cardiology Source Type: news
