April 29, 2014 — Armetheon Inc. announced it has reached agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on a special protocol assessment (SPA) for the final pivotal trial of tecarfarin. Tecarfarin is positioned to be the only oral anticoagulant therapy for patients with prosthetic heart valves (PHV) specifically identified in the label.

John Muir Health announced that its Concord, Calif., medical center is one of the first hospitals in Northern California to implant a miniature cardiac monitor in a patient – the Reveal Linq Insertable Cardiac Monitor (ICM) System.

April 28, 2014 — JenaValve Technology Inc. – a privately held, venture-backed developer, manufacturer and marketer of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) systems – announced it has secured an expansion to its Series C venture round of $10 million, increasing the total amount raised in the round from $62.5 million to $72.5 million.

April 28, 2014 — Boston Scientific Corp. has conducted the first implant in the clinical trial of the next-generation Acuity X4 left ventricular (LV) pacing leads and Reliance 4-Front implantable converter defibrillators (ICD) leads. The clinical trial is designed to establish the safety and effectiveness of both lead families and is intended to support U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of these devices.

Cardiosonic Ltd. announced CE marking of its TIVUS (therapeutic intravascular ultrasound) ablative catheter device.

New findings from a study of 12 astronauts show the heart becomes more spherical when exposed to long periods of microgravity in space, a change that could lead to cardiac problems, according to research to be presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 63rd Annual Scientific Session.