Medtronic has struck a value-based agreement with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota in which the medical device company will pay back the insurer if patients using the Guardian Connect continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system fail to keep their blood sugar levels within a specified range.

Left atrial appendage (LAA) closure with the Watchman device was associated with low rates of stroke and bleeding events in high-risk atrial fibrillation patients over a two-year follow-up period, according to a real-world analysis published April 3 in Circulation: Electrophysiology and Arrhythmia.

Rare protein-truncating variants in the apolipoprotein B (APOB) gene are linked to lower triglycerides and LDL cholesterol levels and also appear to be protective against coronary heart disease (CHD), according to a study published in Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine.

With CMS just months away from an updated national coverage determination for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), a new analysis in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests the relationship between procedural volume and TAVR outcomes remains important in the United States.

Once the artery has been opened with PCI, the treatment involves mixing a patient’s own blood with oxygenated saline and then infusing that superoxygenated mixture to the targeted ischemic area for 60 minutes.

Colorado became the second state to pass legislation requiring surgical smoke evacuation systems at hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers on March 28, when Gov. Jared Polis signed the bill into law. Rhode Island passed a similar law in June 2018.

An animal study published in Experimental Neurology suggests recovery from cardiac arrest is inhibited by exposure to white light—the same kind that normally illuminates hospital rooms.

A meta-analysis of sham-controlled renal denervation trials published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found the catheter-based procedure was associated with statistically significant drops in ambulatory and office blood pressure measurements among hypertensive patients.