The FDA has granted premarket approval to Cardiva Medical’s vascular closure system for use during electrophysiology procedures such as cardiac ablation and left atrial appendage closure, the company announced Dec. 18.

Two trials designed to test the use of drug-eluting devices in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) were halted soon after a meta-analysis linked paclitaxel-coated balloons and stents to a significantly increased risk of death beyond one year post-implantation.

The impressive blood pressure reductions seen among hypertensive black men participating in a barbershop-based intervention were sustained through one year, according to a follow-up study published Dec. 17 in Circulation.

Kettering General Hospital in Northamptonshire, England, is now one of the few heart centers in the world using Shockwave Medical’s intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) system to treat calcified arteries, the hospital announced after its first successful procedure on Nov. 16.

Patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) who struggle to pay their medical bills are at a higher risk for psychological distress, depression and a poor quality of life, according to research published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

People with opioid use disorder (OUD) who have heart surgery suffer in-hospital mortality at a rate on par with other patients but are more likely to experience complications and require longer hospital stays, according to an analysis published in JAMA Surgery.

U.K.-based startup Cambridge Heartware has announced the launch of its company and its first product, a wearable heart monitor powered by artificial intelligence, in early 2019.

A recent analysis of last year’s FOURIER trial has found evolocumab, a PCSK9 inhibitor developed to treat hyperlipidemia, can robustly reduce low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in patients without any major concern for individual-level variability in response.