St. Jude Medical Inc. announced the resumption of the company's U.S. investigational device exemption (IDE) trial evaluating the Portico transcatheter aortic valve implantation system. The Portico IDE trial originally launched in May 2014, and is designed to support U.S. approval of the Portico system.

Researchers announced the results of a study to develop and validate a model, comprised of echocardiographic and clinical data, to predict three-year mortality of patients hospitalized in coronary care units (CCU). The results describe an integrated score for three-year mortality of CCU patients, comprised of fewer variables and better/equal predictive value compared to existing scores.

Researchers announced results of a new study which demonstrated that smartphone-based mHealth devices, coupled with handheld echocardiography, can provide improved assessment and are readily integrated at the point-of-care for evaluation of patients with structural heart diseases. This study was conducted as part of the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) Foundation's Valvular Assessment Leading to Unexplored Echocardiographic Stratagems (VALUES) program, a four-day teaching and research event held at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences in Bangalore, India, August 11-14, 2014. Over the course of several days, researchers assessed patients with multiple forms of rheumatic valvular heart disease with either standard diagnostic equipment or mobile health-based devices.

Researchers announce the results of an early study that shows a fused fluoroscopic/ echocardiographic imaging (FFEI) system is feasible and provides improved guidance of interventional procedures in pediatric patients with congenital heart disease. An estimated 40,000 children are born in the United States each year with various forms of Congenital Heart Disease, with at least a quarter of those requiring some type of surgical intervention. The study is being presented at the 2015 American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) June 12- 16, in Boston.

Patients who received a bare metal coronary stent did not display significant differences in rates of adverse events with an additional 18 months of dual antiplatelet therapy rather than placebo, according to a study in the March 17 issue of JAMA. The study looked at rates of stent thrombosis, major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events, and moderate or severe bleeding. The authors note that limitations in sample size may make definitive conclusions regarding these findings difficult.