CNN reported that the blockage in former President George W. Bush’s coronary artery was “in the ballpark of 95 percent.” He underwent PCI in August, which at the time was criticized as possibly a case of overuse of stenting.

The New York Times reports that the government shutdown has crippled clinical trial activity at the National Institutes of Health. Only 12 patients have been enrolled since Oct. 1. Normally enrollment averages 200 new patients a week.

The Greenwich Hospital Auxiliary has made a $500,000 donation to benefit cardiovascular services at Greenwich Hospital. The generous gift was made during the Auxiliary’s 63rd annual meeting on Sept. 30.

No other health concern affects more people in Hunterdon County than cardiovascular disease.  It is the County’s leading cause of death and its incidence is on the rise due, in part, to the growing number of area residents between the age of 45 and 64 – a time in life in which the onset of cardiovascular disease is most likely to occur.  Hunterdon Medical Center has begun construction on its new Cardiovascular Center. The expansion will centralize all acute care cardiovascular services.

Data from a study led by researchers at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute<http://globalmessaging1.prnewswire.com/clickthrough/servlet/clickthrough?msg_id=7563978&adr_order=59&url=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5zYWludGx1a2VzaGVhbHRoc3lzdGVtLm9yZy9zZXJ2aWNlcy9oZWFydC1hbmQt%0AdmFzY3VsYXItY2FyZGlvdmFzY3VsYXItc2VydmljZXM%3D> showed marked, long-term improvement in health status in patients suffering from peripheral artery disease treated with the S.M.A.R.T. Nitinol Self-Expandable Stent. The study was sponsored by Cordis Corporation, (Fremont, Calif.), manufacturer of the S.M.A.R.T. Stent.

Methodist Mansfield Medical Center has received Cycle IV Chest Pain Center Accreditation from the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care (SCPC), an international not-for-profit organization that focuses on transforming cardiovascular care&nbsp;by assisting facilities in their effort to create communities of excellence that bring together quality, cost and patient satisfaction.

The Healthcare Accreditation Colloquium announced today that Mayo Clinic Children&#39;s Center became the first Accredited Pediatric Heart Failure Institute in Minnesota and fourth in the nation after successfully completing a rigorous one year effort focused on the diagnosis and treatment of childhood heart failure within the community, hospital, clinician education and science.

More than 14 million Europeans suffer from heart failure, roughly half of which is caused by diastolic heart failure, known by doctors as HFPEF. OptimEx, a new 3.5-year study funded by the European Union and coordinated by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), will look at whether exercise could be used both to prevent and treat HFPEF.&nbsp;