Older adults living in long-term care facilities experienced a similar risk of mortality and cardiovascular hospitalizations regardless of whether they were taking intensive or more moderate doses of statins, a retrospective study found.

Sleeping less than six hours a night or experiencing poor-quality rest has been independently linked to an increased risk of subclinical multiterritory atherosclerosis, a team of Spanish researchers reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology Jan. 14.

Medtronic announced on Jan. 15 the launch of a mobile app that connects four of the company’s pacemakers to patients’ smartphones and tablets, removing the need for bedside monitors or other remote monitoring equipment.

Rivaroxaban failed to reduce the rate of early graft failure following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery compared to aspirin monotherapy, researchers reported in a substudy of the COMPASS trial published Jan. 14 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

A study published online in the American Journal of Epidemiology Jan. 14 suggests any physical movement, whether it’s short, long, intense or mild, counteracts the negative cardiovascular effects of sitting for long periods.

Long-term sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are at a higher risk for circulatory and metabolic diseases, especially if they’re men, according to research out of Siena, Italy.

Executives from Medtronic and Boston Scientific stood behind their companies’ paclitaxel-coated medical devices after a meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Heart Association in December linked balloons and stents covered with the material to a significantly increased risk of death at two and five years of follow-up.

The University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine has partnered with veterinary cardiologist Masami Uechi, DVM, PhD, to launch the country’s first open heart surgery program for dogs later this year.