A press conference at the 2018 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics meeting in San Diego on Tuesday, Sept. 25, morphed into a discussion about the future of bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS) and whether it’s worth pursuing bioresorbable stent technology at all.

Targeted plasticity therapy (TPT)—a novel approach to stroke treatment that involves stimulating the vagus nerve to accelerate plasticity in the brain—can double stroke patients’ rates of upper limb recovery, according to research published in Stroke. Paired with traditional motor-skill rehabilitation, it’s twice as effective as standard therapy.

Heart failure (HF) patients who experience moderate functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) for at least six months after cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) are at an increased risk for death, researchers suggest in a study published this week.

Acute coronary syndrome patients who were given a loading dose of atorvastatin before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) experienced a 28 percent reduction in major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) over the following 30 days, according to a secondary analysis of the randomized SECURE-PCI trial published in JAMA Cardiology.

Cardiologists at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit have successfully performed the country’s first implantation of the Neovasc Reducer—a stainless steel, hourglass-shaped heart mesh designed to alleviate difficult angina—the hospital announced in a statement Sept. 26.

Twenty-three hospitals from across Arkansas have joined the Arkansas Heart Attack Registry (AHAR), a collaborative effort to reduce the impact of myocardial infarctions in the state, THV 11 reported this week.

Stem cells in the embryo, previously thought to mature into only red blood or immune system cells, have another function, according to new research out of University College London. They can differentiate into endothelial cells, too, and could help in the growth of blood vessels in developing fetuses.

Biopharmaceutical company Amarin this week announced the topline results of its REDUCE-IT trial, a global study that achieved 25 percent cardiovascular risk reduction in a population of 8,179 statin-treated adults with the daily use of Vascepa, also known as icosapent ethyl.