January 19, 2011 –– Interim analysis of the FAME II trial found a highly statistically significant reduction in the need for hospital readmission and urgent revascularization when fractional flow reserve (FFR)-guided assessment was used to direct treatment in patients with coronary artery disease. As a result of the positive interim analysis, the FAME II independent data safety monitoring board (DSMB) has recommended investigators stop patient enrollment in this trial, as the DSMB considers it unethical to continue to randomize patients to optimal medical therapy (OMT) alone.

January 18, 2011 – Medtronic Inc. announced the CE mark and international launch of the Endurant II AAA stent graft system, which can treat patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms through endovascular aortic repair (EVAR).

January 18, 2012 — Baptist Cardiac & Vascular Institute of Miami announced a partnership with the University of Heidelberg, one of the largest and most important centers for patient care, medical research and teaching in Europe, for hands-on access to the latest medical innovations.

January 18, 2012 — PLC Systems Inc. announced that final results from the MYTHOS investigator-sponsored clinical trial of RenalGuard in Italy have been published in the January 2012 issue of Journal of the American College of Cardiology – Cardiovascular Interventions, a peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Cardiology. The results from this trial showed RenalGuard as better than the current standard-of-care at reducing rates of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) and in-hospital dialysis in at-risk patients undergoing certain imaging procedures.

January 17, 2012 – Nonstop nosebleeds can be serious and frightening, often sending people to the emergency room, where their noses are packed with gauze. When that doesn’t work, nosebleeds can be halted by injecting microscopic particles – made of the same material as a kitchen sponge – into the arteries that supply the nose.

January 17, 2012 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the approved usage for an endovascular graft manufactured by W.L. Gore and Associates Inc. to include treatment of life-threatening tears or ruptures of the aorta (thoracic aortic transection).

January 16, 2012 — Philips Healthcare announced the enrollment of the first patients in its CHILL-MI clinical study. The RAPID MI-ICE trial showed a 38 percent reduction in infarct size in STEMI patients who were cooled to a temperature of less than 35° C prior to performing angioplasty.