Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may serve as a valuable noninvasive tool for assessing the risk of heart attack and stroke in diabetic patients, according to a new clinical study published online in the journal Radiology.

Medtronic Inc. announced clinical trial results showing that heart failure patients treated with its AdaptivCRT feature experienced a nearly 50 percent reduction in atrial fibrillation (AF) risk. Pioneered by Medtronic, the AdaptivCRT technology is a feature on certain cardiac resynchronization therapy-defibrillators (CRT-Ds) that continually adjusts therapy to a patient's natural heart rhythms and minimizes the amount of unnecessary right ventricular (RV) pacing. The results were presented as a late breaking clinical trial at the Heart Failure Society of America's 17th Annual Scientific Meeting.

Critical Diagnostics announced the clinical study, “Head-to-head comparison of two myocardial fibrosis biomarkers for long-term heart failure risk stratification: ST2 vs. Galectin-3,” recently published online in Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) comparing the company’s cardiac biomarker ST2 to Galectin-3 (Gal-3), a biomarker from BG Medicine, found ST2 to be superior.

A study by Cutting Edge Information found that pharmaceutical companies measure cost per patient per month to allow trials of different sizes and durations to be compared easily. This measurement also helps to illustrate the high costs associated with delays.

CardioLogical Solutions announced that it has been issued two additional patents for its family of aortic embolic protection devices designed to prevent stroke and other ischemic complications. The new patents include its first issued patent for its Emboline CAP technology, the only aortic embolic protection solution to offer comprehensive arterial protection, as well as a further patent for its broad embolic deflector intellectual property portfolio. CardioLogical Solutions now has four issued patents for aortic embolic protection.

Patient enrollment has been initiated in a post-market registry for the COMBO Dual Therapy Stent to evaluate its long-term safety and performance in routine clinical practice. The prospective, multicenter, all-comers REMEDEE Registry (Multicenter, Prospective, Clinical Outcomes After Deployment of the Abluminal Sirolimus Coated Bio-Engineered Stent (Combo Bio-Engineered Sirolimus Eluting Stent) Post Market Registry) will enroll 1,000 patients at nine European sites. More than 100 patients have already been enrolled.