New data from a landmark clinical trial found that after five years, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) demonstrated a persistent mortality benefit, improved functional status, and resulted in a lower rate of repeat hospitalizations when compared with standard therapy for patients with severe aortic stenosis who are not candidates for surgery.

Unexpected trips to the hospital are inconvenient and worrisome for anyone, but for congestive heart failure sufferers, they can be all too frequent.

September 16, 2014 — A quarter of adults in the United States have two or more chronic medical conditions, as do more than two-thirds of seniors, yet there are few clinical practice guidelines for cardiologists that take such comorbid conditions and their treatment into consideration.

Tryton Medical Inc. announced that the first patient in the United States has been enrolled in the Extended Access Registry, a single arm study of its Tryton Side Branch Stent.

September 15, 2014 — A new gene-directed drug being tested through a research study called GENETIC-AF may improve care, quality of life and survival in patients with heart failure and atrial fibrillation (AF). A previous study showed the drug being evaluated, called bucindolol hydrochloride, reduced symptomatic AF when compared with placebo in patients with a specific gene variation, or genotype. In the current study, bucindolol, a betablocker, is being compared with another betablocker called metoprolol succinate, a heart failure drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

St. Jude Medical Inc. announced primary outcome two-year data from the FAME 2 Trial, which demonstrated sustained superiority with FFR-guided PCI using St. Jude Medical PressureWire technology in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) compared to standard medical therapy alone.