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Cath Lab Recap: Killer Pacemakers; Heart Monitoring Underwear

— Interventional cardiology news to note

Ƶ MedicalToday

Hacker-researchers were able to access ten types of implantable devices -- including pacemakers -- and find exploits that could possibly from across a room. (The Register)

The Abiomed device won expanded FDA approval for use in high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention, joining the Impella 2.5 in that expanded indication. Impella CP had previously been green-lighted only for cardiogenic shock. (StreetInsider.com)

Undergarments as cardiac monitor? The FDA approved the , which uses cloth-based nanosensors for real-time electrocardiograms, blood pressure readings, and heart and respiratory rate monitoring. (mobihealthnews)

Medtronic's , a centrifugal left ventricular assist device, got Europe's CE Mark for implantation through a smaller thoracotomy incision. "This less-invasive implant procedure potentially enables faster patient recovery compared to the traditional approach, which may help improve patient outcomes," Jan Schmitto, MD, PhD, a pioneer of the new approach, said in a statement. (Med Device Online)

The proportion of patients who underwent carotid endarterectomy or carotid artery stenting within 14 days of stroke onset swelled from 40% in 2005 -- before the American Heart Association's 2006 recommendation that revascularization occur within 2 weeks -- to 73% in 2013 (P<0.001), according to a study in . The time from stroke onset to revascularization fell from 25 days to 6 over the same period.

Patients with chronic critical limb ischemia who did not fare worse than their peers who did, according to researchers at a Dutch hospital. "Not all patients with critical limb ischemia require revascularization," and "the efficacy of conservative versus invasive treatment in critical limb ischemia patients is still unclear," they wrote in the European Journal of Vascular & Endovascular Surgery.

could be a safe solution for extremely premature newborns, investigators reported in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions. Using the Amplatzer Vascular Plug II, operators had 88% procedural success (failures were related to the development of left pulmonary artery stenosis caused by the device) and no procedure-related deaths at 11 months.

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    Nicole Lou is a reporter for Ƶ, where she covers cardiology news and other developments in medicine.