OAC-ALONE, the first randomized trial to test the efficacy of oral anticoagulation (OAC) alone against combined OAC and a single antiplatelet agent (APT) in patients with atrial fibrillation and stable coronary artery disease, was unable to establish noninferiority of OACs to dual therapy, according to data presented at the 30th annual TCT conference in San Diego.

Height—and the genes that influence it—are important predictors for the development of varicose veins, according to a study out of Stanford University.

Resolute Onyx, a polymer-coated zotarolimus-eluting stent, has been proven safe and effective in an all-comer population of more than 2,000 heart patients, according to late-breaking results of the BIONYX trial.

SAN DIEGO — General and local anesthesia are comparably safe and effective during transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures, according to the first randomized trial to compare the two approaches.

Compared to heart failure patients with severe secondary mitral regurgitation who were treated with guideline-directed medical therapy alone, those randomized to a MitraClip procedure plus optimal medical therapy demonstrated relative reductions of 47 percent for heart failure hospitalizations and 38 percent for mortality at two years of follow-up.

SAN DIEGO — The ultra-thin Orsiro drug-eluting stent (DES) maintained superior outcomes at two years of follow-up in a head-to-head trial against Abbott’s Xience stent, according to results presented this weekend at Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics 2018 and published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

A strict protocol mandating coronary angiography and therapeutic hypothermia contributed to “startling” improvements in survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), researchers reported in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions.

Atrial fibrillation patients are acutely aware of their five-fold increased risk of stroke, new research from StopAfib.org suggests—and 38 percent report feeling “trapped” between their fear of having a stroke and the major bleeding risks associated with anticoagulants.