Brilinta Shines in Stroke Prevention; Leadless Pacing Expands; Triglyceride Drug Clears Hurdle

— Recent developments of interest in cardiovascular medicine

MedicalToday

among people at high risk due to a recent minor acute ischemic stroke or high-risk transient ischemic attack in topline results from the THALES trial, AstraZeneca announced.

FDA approved a that has atrial sensing, allowing the large population with atrioventricular block to avoid a dual-chamber pacemaker. (MassDevice)

FDA also cleared the for peripheral chronic total occlusions, SoundBite Medical Solutions announced. (Cath Lab Digest)

Another phase II trial came up positive for an antisense drug: in patients with hypertriglyceridemia with or at risk for cardiovascular disease, Akcea Therapeutics announced in topline results, following publication of phase II results with its APO(a)-LRx agent against lipoprotein(a).

may flag young adults at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease, a study showed in JAMA Cardiology.

A model that assesses chest x-rays of adult congenital heart disease patients and did so better than experts eyeballing for pulmonary vascularity, according to a study in JAMA Cardiology.

Most of the have been disputed, leaving just three considered definitive. (Circulation)

kills and disables fewer young victims among minorities, but neither initial size and expansion of the bleed nor common risk factors appear to account for the difference, a study reported in Neurology.

had similar mortality risk to plain balloon angioplasty at four years in the ILLUMENATE pivotal U.S. trial (15.6% vs 15.2%), Royal Philips announced from data reported at the Leipzig Interventional Course (LINC) in Leipzig, Germany.

In news from the International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy (ISET) meeting in Hollywood, Florida, researchers reported (Vascular Disease Management):

  • wasn't associated with higher 5-year mortality than percutaneous transluminal angioplasty in treating femoropopliteal lesions in a contract research group's safety analysis, adding data recovered from patients lost to follow-up
  • Seven different real-world datasets showed to such paclitaxel devices
  • Paclitaxel-eluting had similar primary patency at two years in the IMPERIAL trial (83.0% vs 77.1%)

A new had sensitivity of 79% and "impressive" positive predictive value of 75% for strokes that would be candidates for endovascular thrombectomy, researchers reported in Neurology, but an accompanying editorial highlighted some .

A small group of physicians are driving , and they're more likely to work in ambulatory surgery centers or office settings. (Journal of Vascular Surgery)

FDA cleared trials of the for atrial fibrillation and the for atherectomy of peripheral artery disease. (MassDevice)