September 1, 2009 – Cordis Corp. said first patient has been enrolled in the CYPRESS study, which will assess clinical outcomes in a broad range of patients with coronary artery disease who take dual anti-platelet therapy after receiving a CYPHER sirolimus-eluting coronary stent. The procedure was performed by Patrick Flaherty, D.O., Arkansas Heart Hospital in Little Rock, Ark.

September 1, 2009 – Sanofi-aventis said Sunday the investigational anti-Xa intravenous anti-coagulant otamixaban reduced by 27 to 42 percent the odds of the composite primary endpoint of death, myocardial infarction, urgent revascularization or rescue GPIIb/IIIa use in four out of the five otamixaban tested doses, versus standard UFH/eptifibatide combination in (non-ST) ACS patients suitable for

September 1, 2009 – Echocardiography with Doppler is the method of choice for the noninvasive evaluation of prosthetic valves, according to a new guideline document in the September issue of the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography (JASE).

September 1, 2009 – GE Healthcare and 2D/3D/4D imaging company TomTec Imaging Systems GmbH entered into a formal strategic cooperation contract to boost their excellence in echocardiography.

August 26, 2009 – Siemens Healthcare is now shipping its syngo US Workplace 3.5, with ultrasound applications for clinical workflow and patient care for cardiac imaging, general imaging, OB/GYN and vascular screening, including the syngo Arterial Health Package (AHP) for semi-automated carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) measurements.

August 24, 2009 – Physicians at The Mount Sinai Medical Center were the first in the country to perform a nonsurgical procedure using sutures to tie off a left atrial appendage (LAA), which is the source of blood clots leading to stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AFib). AFib is the most common sustained heart-rhythm disorder in the United States.

Moffitt Cancer Center engaged in the GE Healthcare Performance Solutions team to improve work and enable additional capacity. The project enabled the center to identify operating room (OR) workflow issues, including predictable scheduling, on-time starts, and increasing room turnover.