Former President George W. Bush underwent heart surgery on the morning of Aug. 6, 2013, to receive a stent after an artery blockage was discovered during his annual physical. The routine physical included a stress test and an electrocardiogram. Abnormal results from the stress test prompted the former president to receive a computed tomography (CT) angiogram, and the surgery successfully took place one day after the blockage was discovered.

Colibri Heart Valve LLC announced that enrollment its first-in-human feasibility study is continuing, and early clinical results from the second implantation of the Colibri device confirm the positive clinical findings observed in its first use. The Colibri transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) system is the first low profile, 14 French, pre-mounted, pre-crimped, and pre-packaged, ready-for-use TAVI system.

The William Stamps Farish Fund in Houston has donated $400,000 to a collaboration between the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences (ICES) at The University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Heart Institute (THI) to study life-threatening vulnerable plaques, the cause of at least two-thirds of all heart attacks, and new ways to prevent them.

Positron Corporation entered into a multi-year radioisotope supply agreement with iThemba LABS of Cape Town, South Africa. The supply agreement contracts the procurement of raw material, strontium-82 (Sr-82) from iThemba LABS for further production of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) at Positron's radioisotope production facility in Lubbock, Texas. In September 2013, Positron will receive relevant volumes of strontium-82 for qualification and will commence with commercial availability beginning in February 2014. This additional supply will enhance the industry's strontium-82 supply and increase the availability of radiopharmaceuticals to the end user. Positron intends to make this Sr-82 API supply available to all rubidium-82 generator producers in the marketplac

W. L. Gore & Associates announced a favorable ruling involving the Gore Helex Septal Occluder. The Hon. Judge Joan Ericksen of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota ruled on July 23, 2013 in Gore’s favor that the Gore Helex Septal Occluder does not infringe the asserted claims of AGA Medical Corp.’s U.S. Patent 5,944,738 (‘738 patent) and granted Gore’s request for summary judgment of non-infringement.

A clinical study of two sets of 894 matched emergency department (ED) patients presenting with chest pain revealed that the use of coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) led to fewer hospital admissions and shorter ED stays. According to lead researcher Michael Poon, M.D., of Stony Brook University School of Medicine, the findings provide evidence that CCTA offers an alternative means of improving the triage of chest pain patients.

Edwards Lifesciences received conditional investigational device exemption (IDE) approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate a clinical trial of its Edwards Sapien 3 transcatheter aortic heart valve and accessories.