Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) has received CE Mark for the Lotus™ Valve System, the company's advanced transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) technology.  This key approval offers a unique and effective new treatment alternative for patients with severe aortic stenosis at high risk with surgical valve replacement.

NBC News reported on a study in Genome Biology in which researchers studied aging of cells. The scientists proposed that some cells age more slowly than others, with cardiac cells clocking in as relative youngsters and tumor cells being the oldest of all. 

Cleveland Clinic today announced its eighth annual list of Top 10 Medical Innovations that will have a major impact on improving patient care within the next year. The list includes a bionic eye, a neurostimulator for epilepsy and fecal transplantation.

Medicure Inc. ("Medicure" or the "Company") (TSXV:MPH, OTC:MCUJF.PK), is pleased to announce that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the AGGRASTAT (tirofiban HCl) high-dose bolus (HDB) regimen, as requested under Medicure's supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA). The AGGRASTAT HDB regimen (25 mcg/kg over 3 minutes, followed by 0.15 mcg/kg/min) now becomes the recommended dosing for the reduction of thrombotic cardiovascular events in patients with non-ST elevated acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS).

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.

New research reveals the advantages of new, more accurate risk assessment methodologies over the basic lipid panel. Atherotech Diagnostics Lab, a leading clinical reference laboratory specializing in advanced cardiometabolic testing and disease management solutions, will highlight recent evidence for improved cardiovascular disease assessment and prevention at the eighth annual Cardiometabolic Health Congress (CMHC) October 2-5, at the Sheraton Hotel in Boston.    

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center's Heart and Vascular Center has named Dr. Garret FitzGerald, professor of Medicine and Pharmacology; chair of the Department of Pharmacology and director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at the Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania, the recipient of the 2013 Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Prize in Cardiovascular Sciences.

An American Heart Association/American Stroke Association sponsored study comparing which stroke therapies work best has received a $2 million research award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).