About 1 in 6 patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation (AFib) who are considered at low risk of stroke advance to a higher risk category within one year, according to a registry study published in the Jan. 1 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.

The Sapien 3 Ultra heart valve has received FDA approval for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in patients with severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis who are considered to be at intermediate or high risk of open-heart surgery, device manufacturer Edwards Lifesciences announced on Dec. 28.

Patients with diabetes and peripheral artery disease (PAD) are significantly more likely than nondiabetics with PAD to die from cardiovascular causes or have a heart attack or stroke, according to a subanalysis of the EUCLID trial.

The FDA is requiring all manufacturers of fluoroquinolones—a popular class of antibiotics—to warn about the risk of aortic aneurysm and dissection associated with the drugs in their prescribing information and patient medication guides.

Omron Healthcare opened its latest product, a wearable blood pressure cuff that dually acts as a smartwatch, to presales Dec. 20 ahead of the device’s official launch in January 2019.

Publicly posted hospital ratings could be confusing heart patients more than helping them, Reuters reported of a Journal of the American College of Surgeons study that found significant disparities between major rating systems in the U.S.

Hospitals participating in a quality improvement program were 7.3 times more likely to administer IV alteplase within one hour of a stroke patient’s arrival in 2017 versus 2008, according to a study published Dec. 17 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

Regardless of a woman’s smoking status, her BMI or whether she has any cardiovascular comorbidities, giving birth to at least one child raises her risk of developing heart disease or stroke by 16 percent, according to research out of Tongji Medical College in Wuhan, China.