Optimizing hemodynamics for heart failure (HF) patients with continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) significantly reduces the rate of those patients’ hospital readmissions, according to a study published Feb. 1 in Circulation: Heart Failure.

ProvideGx, a subsidiary of Premier, will begin its offerings with metoprolol, a beta-blocker that can treat blood pressure and angina and is commonly given to heart attack patients.

Biologic treatment favorably modifies coronary plaque characteristics for patients with severe psoriasis, suggests a study published Feb. 5 in Cardiovascular Research. The findings raise the possibility that the anti-inflammatory drugs can both treat psoriasis and reduce cardiovascular risk.

The lifetime cumulative risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) is much higher in black patients than in whites, according to an analysis of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study published in Circulation Feb. 4.

Fast-acting, inhalable insulin is growing in popularity among American adults with diabetes, local Minnesota outlet Fox 9 reported Feb. 1.

A patient’s degree of frailty could predict their functional outcomes in the year following transcatheter or surgical aortic valve repair (TAVR or SAVR), according to research out of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

Survival rates for patients treated with Abiomed’s Impella RP right ventricular assist device have been much lower in a postapproval study than they were during the device’s premarket clinical trials, the FDA said Feb. 4 in a letter to physicians.  

Researchers from the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College have developed a dime-sized innovation they claim converts the heart’s energy into electricity to power implantable devices like pacemakers and defibrillators, potentially saving cardiovascular patients the time, money and stress of repeat surgery.