Portola Announces Data Showing Its Anti-Platelet Drug Inhibits Platelets In Clopidogrel (Plavix(R)) Non-Responders
13 Nov 2008
Portola Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative drugs that provide significant advances in cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases, and cancer, announced new clinical data that demonstrate PRT060128, the Company's novel anti-platelet drug that directly and reversibly inhibits the P2Y12 ADP receptor, overcomes high platelet reactivity (HPR) in patients who do not respond to clopidogrel. The results were presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2008 in New Orleans, LA. Full news item

Practice Makes Perfect When Performing Emergency Angioplasty
13 Nov 2008
Heart experts at Johns Hopkins have evidence that life-saving coronary angioplasty at community hospitals is safer when physicians and hospital staff have more experience with the procedure. Full news item

Catheter Ablation With The NAVISTAR(R) THERMOCOOL(R) Catheter Superior To Anti-Arrhythmic Drug Therapy For Symptomatic, Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation
13 Nov 2008
In a multicenter study, catheter ablation has been shown in a randomized clinical trial to significantly outperform anti-arrhythmic drug (AAD) therapy for the treatment of symptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation, or AFib as it is more commonly referred to, is the most prevalent cardiac arrhythmia (heart rhythm disorder) and one of the most common causes of stroke. Full news item

PA32520 May Provide Better Cardiovascular Protection Than 81 Mg Enteric Coated Aspirin
13 Nov 2008
POZEN Inc.'s (NASDAQ:POZN) PA32520 product candidate (enteric coated aspirin 325 mg with immediate release omeprazole 20 mg) may provide less upper gastrointestinal mucosal damage usually associated with higher doses of aspirin therapy, and may allow for treatment with higher doses of aspirin (up to 325 mg/daily) to maximize cardiovascular protection, according to new data presented today at the American Heart Association's (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2008 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Findings from two similar studies, which included 160 subjects, showed that treatment with enteric coated aspirin alone is associated with a high prevalence of upper gastrointestinal damage. This damage is reduced with PA32520 therapy as referenced in the study abstract. Full news item

Acusphere Announces Data Demonstrating Imagify™ Perfusion Stress Echo Predicts Presence Of Coronary Artery Disease
13 Nov 2008
Acusphere, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACUS) announced that additional analyses from its Phase 3 clinical trials of Imagify™ (Perflubutane Polymer Microspheres) for Injectable Suspension were presented today at the annual American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in New Orleans, Louisiana. These results build upon the thesis presented at AHA last year that Imagify Perfusion Stress Echo is an effective and well-tolerated, minimally invasive approach to evaluating chest pain patients at risk for heart attack. The new analysis ascribes incremental predictive value to the use of Imagify for detecting coronary artery disease over other current clinical risk factors. Full news item

TRUST Study Shows Remote Monitoring Of ICD Enables Earlier Detection Of Arrhythmic Events With Fewer In-Office Visits
13 Nov 2008
BIOTRONIK, the pioneer in wireless remote monitoring technology for patients with cardiac devices, announced today that data presented at the New Trials in Electrophysiology and Pacing Session of the American Heart Association (AHA) 2008 Scientific Sessions shows remote monitoring of its implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) is a safe and effective alternative to conventional in-office follow-up care, which helps reduce the burden on capacity-constrained cardiac centers. Full news item

B•R•A•H•M•S Announces New Blood Test Better Predicts Heart Failure Outcomes In Emergency Setting
13 Nov 2008
B•R•A•H•M•S today announced positive results from the company's BACH (Biomarkers in Acute Congestive Heart Failure) Multinational Study comparing its new blood test, MR-proADM (Mid-Regional pro-Adrenomedullin) to BNP (B-type Natriuretic Peptide) and NT-proBNP (N-Terminal pro-B-type Natriuretic Peptide), the current industry standard tests used in acute care settings worldwide, as a prognostic indicator in patients with heart failure. The results demonstrated that the MR-proADM test was accurate for prognosis of outcome of acute heart failure, quantitatively superior to both BNP and NT-proBNP. The data were presented by Prof. Stefan D. Anker, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Cardiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, at the American Heart Association's (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2008 in New Orleans, LA. Early in 2008, MR-proADM was CE labeled and is currently marketed in the European Union. Full news item

In Heart Transplants Gender Matching Aids Long-Term Survival
13 Nov 2008
Gender matching between donors and recipients is important to short- and long-term survival in heart transplantation, according to a retrospective study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2008. Full news item

Heart Failure Patients Have More Doctor Visits, Medications Than Others On Medicare
13 Nov 2008
Researchers from the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute participated in 42 presentations at the American Heart Association's annual Scientific Sessions. Among findings that were shared by Cedars-Sinai cardiologists and their colleagues:

• Unlike stem cells from other sources, a small reservoir of stem cells existing in the heart may be the best-suited cells for regenerating heart tissue because they are preprogrammed to become heart and blood vessel cells. A clinical trial will use these stem cells in an attempt to rebuild heart tissue in patients suffering heart failure or a recent heart attack, reports one of the nation's leading experts on cardiac stem cell research.
• A mutant gene found in a population in Italy has become the center of a gene therapy strategy to protect against heart disease, according to a Cedars-Sinai researcher who is conducting preclinical trials.
• Women who rapidly transition through menopause are likely to have more rapid onset of heart disease, according to a Cedars-Sinai cardiologist who leads multicenter research studies on the unique factors involved in women's heart disease.
• A new medication, prasugrel, may be effective in preventing ischemic complications (death, heart attack or stroke) following coronary intervention for patients with unstable angina and heart attack, but it appears to increase the risk of bleeding - and may have an overall undesirable risk-benefit ratio in some high-risk patients, say Cedars-Sinai cardiologists who have expertise in statistical methods and have carefully reviewed the drug studies.

Full news item

Identification Of New Biomarker For Heart Failure
13 Nov 2008
Blood levels of resistin, a hormone produced by fat cells, can independently predict an individual's risk of heart failure, cardiologists at Emory University School of Medicine have found. Full news item

Death After Heart Attack: Gender Differences Narrow
13 Nov 2008
In recent years, women, particularly younger women, experienced larger improvements in hospital mortality after myocardial infarction than men, according to a new study. Full news item