December 23, 2009 – An investigational beta-blocker drug may be tested to see if it helps slow the progression of chronic heart failure in patients who have a specific genotype.

December 22, 2009 – A new study is the first to specifically identify the year immediately around a woman’s final menstrual period as the time of most adverse changes in the lipid profile in women. The study appears in the Dec. 15-22, 2009, print double issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) and the Prevention and Outcomes Quarterly Focus Issue.

December 21, 2009 – Revised guidelines on the use of beta-blockers for noncardiac surgery say therapy should neither be initiated on the day of surgery, nor stopped abruptly peri- or postoperatively.

December 18, 2009 – Results from the Europella registry, evaluating the safety and feasibility of the Abiomed Impella 2.5 circulatory assist device in high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures, was published in the Dec. 15 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).

December 17, 2009 – The University of Virginia (UVa) in Charlottesville and AstraZeneca this week entered into a strategic research collaboration to enhance development of new treatments, primarily for coronary artery disease (CAD) with a secondary focus on peripheral vascular disease (PAD).

December 16, 2009 - Non-enhanced CT for calcium detection is a reliable way to exclude obstructive coronary artery disease in patients with chest pain, according to a study published in the December issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.