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Improvements in kidney function in patients treated with Lipitor® (atorvastatin calcium) were shown to strongly correlate with a reduced risk of major cardiovascular events in patients with pre-existing cardiovascular disease, according to a post hoc sub-analysis of the five-year Treating to New Targets (TNT) study presented today at the Annual Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association.

Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), announced today that enrollment in the 2,300-patient RESOLUTE All-Comers (R-AC) clinical study was completed in just six months, two months ahead of schedule. The randomized trial compares the safety and efficacy of Medtronic's Endeavor Resolute drug-eluting stent (DES) with Abbott Laboratories' Xience® DES.

According to Millennium Research Group's (MRG's) Europe II Markets for Peripheral Vascular Devices report, covering Spain, Switzerland, Benelux, and Nordic countries, health care reforms have limited the adoption of covered stents in peripheral vascular applications.

New data from the landmark ATHENA trial showed that dronedarone significantly reduced the incidence and total duration of hospital stays among patients with atrial fibrillation / atrial flutter (AF/AFL). This post-hoc analysis was presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2008 in New Orleans, Louisiana. In this new analysis, dronedarone significantly reduced the total number of hospital days by 28 percent (p

AtCor Medical (ASX: ACG), the developer and marketer of the SphygmoCor(R) system, which measures central blood pressures and arterial stiffness noninvasively, today announced that a new study* funded by the National Institutes of health (NIH) found that when patients' central pulse pressures exceeded 50 mm of mercury, there was a significant increase in cardiovascular events.

Capricor Inc. announced today the results from preclinical studies showing that its cardiosphere-derived stem cells (CDCs), when transplanted into a well-established mouse model of myocardial infarction (MI), protect the heart significantly better against progressive degeneration following MI or heart attack than do highly purified cardiac stem cells or heart derived mesenchymal like progenitor cells.

Title: IV 'Ice Slurry' Quickly Cools Body for SurgeriesCategory: health newscreated: 11/15/2008 2:00:00 amlast Editorial review: 11/17/2008