March 2, 2011 – America’s hospitals and health systems are focusing more on renovation or expansion than new construction, according to a survey from Health Facilities Management magazine and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE). In fact, renovation or expansion accounted for 73 percent of construction projects at hospitals responding to the survey.

March 1, 2011 – A bioprosthetic heart valve has demonstrated positive performance at 12 years, according to a study published in The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. The Mosaic heart valve, from Medtronic, was evaluated in patients who had aortic valve replacement (AVR) and mitral valve replacement (MVR).

March 1, 2011 – A new study assessing the utility of genetic testing to determine a personalized warfarin dose for individual patients has begun at Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue, Wash. The WARFARIN Study will help determine if genetic testing can reduce a patient’s risk of serious bleeding or clotting events. It will use a test developed by Iverson Genetic Diagnostics.

February 28, 2011 – At the National Institutes of Health (NIH) summit on managing radiation dose in computerized tomography, representatives from the American College of Radiology (ACR) outlined strategies for transforming computed tomography (CT) technology and minimizing radiation exposure.

February 25, 2011 – A larger transcatheter aortic heart valve has received the CE mark. The 29 mm version of the Sapien XT valve, from Edwards Lifesciences, promises to expand the number of patients who can be treated.

February 24, 2011 – Upsher-Smith Laboratories, is voluntarily recalling one lot (lot #284081) of Jantoven Warfarin Sodium, USP, 3 mg tablets, an anticoagulant with an expiration date of September 2012, NDC # 0832-1214-00.