Congresses and Meetings

This year’s ACC Scientific Sessions have been dominated, at least from a headline perspective, by the Left Atrial Appendage. It seems a number of companies are keen to demonstrate their implants can reduce stroke risk by occluding it. St.Jude is one, with its Amplatzer device.

Data from Abbott’s EVEREST II High Surgical Risk cohort evaluating the company’s first-in-class catheter-based MitraClip® System for the treatment of mitral regurgitation were presented at the Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology in San Francisco over the weekend.

The FDA has so far not approved Boston Scientific’s Watchman Left Atrial appendage closure device. This week’s ACC event in San Francisco sees the first sight of clinical data from the PREVAIL study which may support the theory that the device is an alternative to blood thinning therapy.

Eu regulators have allowed Medtronic to claim one month DAPT requirement in new labelling for its Resolute Integrity drug eluting stent. A timely press release in view of this weekend’s ACC meeting.

Boston Scientific’s PR machine is on top of its game, drawing attention to all the good things that will be presented in the company’s name at this years ACC meeting at the weekend.

Claret Medical has gained CE mark approval for its Montage 2™ which becomes the only approved filter system protecting the carotid arteries capturing embolic debris during intravascular procedures such as Transcatheter Aortic Valve Repair.

Presentation of neurological data confirms patients in the device group had fewer, smaller strokes that were less likely to originate from blood clots passing through the PFO

Arthroscopy and surgery of the meniscus has evolved gently, in contrast to the radical sea-changes that have occurred in coronary artery interventions. Maybe there hasn’t been enough focus, and perhaps this week’s second international meniscus symposium will change that.

Medical device research organisation NAMSA, is sponsoring a comprehensive symposium based on the definitive new book, “Biocompatibility and Performance of Medical Devices,” in London, England, February 12-14.

Ah, that’s a clever idea. Attach an inferior vena cava filter to a central line and you can protect patients for whom anticoagulation is not an option, against the threat of venous thromboembolism. Following CE marking BiO2’s Angel™Catheter is being launched in Europe this week.

AliveCor, Inc. has taken the opportunity presented by the 4th annual mHealth Summit in Washington, D.C. to announce the FDA 510(k) clearance and CE marking of its mobile Heart Monitor.

Very clever inbuilt technology means GE Healthcare’s “FlightPlan For Liver” can help physicians identify which vessels to embolize when isolating liver tumors. The newly approved product is being showcased at Radiology Society Of North America meeting this week.

More from RSNA 2012 as Philips showcases its radiation dose exposure control, while providing high image quality for clinicians.

It’s the Radiology Society of North America (RSNA 2012) meeting this week, at which radiologists and cardiologists interested in advanced visualization and analysis will find Fujifilm’s Synapse 3D. Fully integrated with Synapse PACS and Cardiovascular, Synapse 3D will be one of the company’s showcase technologies.

J&J subsidiary, Cordis has seen its Incraft AAA stent graft study results reach 1 year with no problems and 100% efficacy. The graft, with its 13Fr delivery system aims to extend EVAR To More Patients than currently indicated.

At TCT 2012, Volcano Corporation announced results from the largest study of its kind, showing that stent procedures guided by intravascular ultrasound resulted in better patient outcomes and fewer complications at 30 days and 12 months compared to procedures without IVUS, and were safe.