June 9, 2014 — After one year, patients treated with orbital atherectomy, a procedure to sand away calcium in the coronary arteries prior to stenting, were less likely to require a repeat procedure to reopen their vessel or suffer a heart attack or death compared to other published trials in patients with heavily calcified arteries. The new results from the ORBIT II study were presented as a late-breaking clinical trial at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2014 scientific sessions in Las Vegas.

Researchers at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging’s 2014 Annual Meeting (SNMMI) revealed how a protein encourages the production of stem cells that regenerate damaged tissues of the heart following an acute attack (myocardial infarction). They further assert that it has a better chance of working if provided early in treatment. This was confirmed by molecular imaging, which captured patients’ improved heart health after therapy.

June 5, 2014 — Fairview Health Services, Minneapolis, recently became the first U.S. healthcare facility to install the Symbia Intevo xSPECT system from Siemens Healthcare. The first ever xSPECT system, the Symbia Intevo fully integrates single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and CT during image reconstruction, combining SPECT’s high sensitivity with the high specificity of CT and completely integrating data from the two modalities to generate high resolution and, for the first time, quantitative images.

June 5, 2014 — New measures of the severity of coronary artery blockages do not provide enough accuracy to guide treatment decisions, according to the results of the VERIFY-2 study presented as a late-breaking clinical trial at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2014 scientific sessions in Las Vegas.