Lombard Medical, Inc., a medical device company focused on Endovascular Aneurysm Repair (EVAR) of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs), today presented efficacy and safety data from the two-year follow up of the U.S. PYTHAGORAS pre-marketing approval (PMA) trial of Aorfix™, the first and only endovascular stent graft with global approvals for the treatment of patients with aortic neck angulations up to 90 degrees.

New data on the investigational antidote idarucizumab show that it can reverse the effect of the oral anticoagulant Pradaxa (dabigatran etexilate) on both blood coagulation and the blood clotting mechanism. In a study in healthy volunteers, administration of idarucizumab after initial pre-treatment with Pradaxa was shown to restore systemic blood coagulation and re-enable the formation of fibrin, a key component of the blood clotting mechanism. This is the first time that an antidote to a novel oral anticoagulant (NOAC) has demonstrated such an effect. The findings were presented during the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2014. The antidote is still under investigation and has not yet been approved for clinical use.

The American Heart Association today presented its Research Achievement Award for 2014 to Shaun R. Coughlin, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, “for transcendent discoveries of cellular signaling mechanisms that control blood platelet activation and clot formation, findings that have led to a new medical therapy for preventing heart attacks and strokes.”

Sunnyvale, CA. -- Silk Road Medical, Inc. announced the 30 day outcomes from the ROADSTER IDE Study at the VIVA 2014 Vascular Interventional Advances Annual Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. The trial studied the treatment of carotid artery stenosis with a new device and hybrid procedure combining the best elements of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and carotid artery stenting (CAS).

Patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) and diabetes who underwent treatment with a drug-coated balloon fared better than counterparts who received standard care, according to a subanalysis of the IN.PACT SFA trial.

At five years, the Zilver PTX stent proved to be a durable treatment for peripheral artery disease with sustained benefit, results presented Nov. 4 at the 2014 Vascular Interventional Advances (VIVA) meeting showed.

Shockwaves appear to have early success in breaking up calcified lesions safely. In research presented Nov. 5 at the 2014 Vascular Interventional Advances (VIVA) meeting in Las Vegas, a lithotripsy-with-balloon technique used on peripheral artery lesions resulted in all patients achieving less than 50 percent stenosis. 

Covidien announced 12-month results of the DEFINITIVE AR study, the first randomized study designed to identify the clinical benefits of plaque removal using directional atherectomy followed by drug coated balloon. The results were presented by Professor Thomas Zeller of the Universitaets-Herzzentrum, Bad Krozingen, Germany at the Vascular Interventional Advances (VIVA) 2014 conference in Las Vegas, Nev.