Patients with coronary artery disease who received an Endeavor or Resolute drug-eluting stent from Medtronic Inc. and subsequently interrupted their dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) earlier than current guidelines recommend experienced no increased risk of stent thrombosis at one year or more of follow up. Both devices elute the drug zotarolimus to reduce the risk of restenosis. This is according to findings from several studies presented at the 25th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium.

Generating new cardiac muscle from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and/or induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) could fulfill the demand for therapeutic applications and drug testing. The production of a similar population of these cells remains a major limitation, but in a study just published in Stem Cells Translational Medicine, researchers now believe they have found a way to do this.

Janssen Research & Development LLC (Janssen) announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued complete response letters (CRLs) regarding supplemental New Drug Applications (sNDAs) for the use of rivaroxaban, an oral anticoagulant, to reduce the risk of secondary cardiovascular events — defined as heart attack, stroke or death — in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and to reduce the risk of stent thrombosis in the same population, in combination with standard antiplatelet therapy.

Micell Technologies Inc. announced that imaging and clinical results from the DESSOLVE I and DESSOLVE II trials of its MiStent Sirolimus Eluting Absorbable Polymer Coronary Stent System (MiStent SES) were presented at the 25th Annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) Conference held in San Francisco, Oct. 27 to Nov. 1, 2013.

iRhythm Technologies Inc., a healthcare information services company, announced that new study data support the use of its ZIO Service to help identify underlying cardiac arrhythmias in patients who have had a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA).