Ischemia Heart Disease

If you're among the hundreds of thousands of Americans with clogged kidney arteries, you might want to consider trying medicines before rushing into angioplasty to open them up. The pricey procedure is no more effective and carries surprisingly big risks, a study found. The National Kidney Foundation estimates more than 250,000 Americans have narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the kidneys. It's usually caused by a buildup of fatty plaque, mostly in folks 50 or older, and can result in high blood pressure and, sometimes, kidney failure. Each year, about one in six patients with the condition dies. About 16 percent of ... Read Full Story

A steady rate of technology development in coronary stents, producing an equally steady stream of new stent market introductions, is focused on expanding aggregate stent caseload (through penetration of what would otherwise be coronary artery bypass caseload) or shifting the balance even further toward concentration of stents sales to the drug-eluting stent (DES) variety.  While unit volumes are on the rise, pricing pressures have dampened this overall market growth and will continue to put a squeeze on stent margins.  This trend has been in force for the past two years (since the late stage thrombosis scare subsided), but going forward there will be more ... Read Full Story

Date Published: Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has issued a recall of CardioVations EndoClamp Aortic Catheter . The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has deemed this a Class I recall, its most serious type of recall. The CardioVations EndoClamp Aortic Catheter locks off the aorta, monitors aortic pressure, and delivers solution to stop the heart during cardiopulmonary bypass procedures. According to the recall notice, the balloon catheters may spontaneously rupture during surgery. The CardioVations EndoClamp Aortic Catheters subject to this recall include Model Numbers EC1001 and EC65. This product was manufactured from August, 2008 through August, 2009 and distributed from November, 2008 ... Read Full Story

Result may be left atrial enlargement, study finds By -- Robert Preidt Share What is this? Buzz Digg Facebook More... EMAIL PRINT RSS   MONDAY, Nov. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Obesity is a major risk factor for left atrial enlargement, which increases the risk of atrial fibrillation, stroke and death, a new study shows. Atrial fibrillation is the most common type of arrhythmia (an irregular heart rhythm or heartbeat). Researchers analyzed data on 1,212 men and women, aged 25 to 74, in Germany who were followed for 10 years. The study authors concluded that obesity and hypertension cause structural and functional changes in the ... Read Full Story

As an exercise, I found it worthwhile to map out the various options available or under development for the treatment of coronary artery disease. We assess the emphasis of current, near-term and future possible options for treatment in the color-coded scheme: Bold, black:  Current, dominant treatment options Green:  Near term options with potential to gain significant caseload Red:  Long-term option with potential to dominate all caseload     Source: MedMarket Diligence, LLC; Report #C245 bookmark to Read Full Story