June 15, 2010 – A new study evaluating the safety of an echocardiography contrast agent found that the agent did not have a significant effect on patients’ pulmonary pressures.

June 14, 2010 - High levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) — known as good cholesterol — can not only make a person two to three times less likely to develop heart disease, but also may lower the risk of cancer. This is according to a study published in the June 22, 2010, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).

June 14, 2010 – A self-expanding, polymer-free, drug-eluting peripheral stent has been submitted for premarket approval (PMA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Cook Medical submitted the PMA for its Zilver PTX Drug-Eluting stent, which is intended for use in the superficial femoral artery (SFA).

June 11, 2010 – Heart attacks declined by 24 percent within a large, ethnically diverse, community-based population since 2000. The relative incidence of serious heart attacks that do permanent damage also declined 62 percent, according to a Kaiser Permanente Division of Research study in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

June 11, 2010 – A multicenter, randomized trial planned in the United States will compare laser ablation followed by adjunctive balloon angioplasty as compared to balloon angioplasty alone in treating to treat in-stent restenosis (ISR) in arteries above the knee. There is no device currently cleared or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat ISR.