Intense grief, such as what’s felt at the death of a spouse, can increase a person’s risk of developing cardiac problems that lead to death, according to a new article by two prominent Cleveland Clinic cardiologists.The article — “Can you really die of a broken heart?” — appears in Psychology Today and was penned by [...]

Updated 7:35 p.m.A pre-clinical evaluation of a self-clearing chest tube developed by Clear Catheter Systems Inc. has demonstrated the tube that clears itself works better to drain the chest after surgery than a passive tube of the same size.The Cleveland Clinic spin-off based in Cleveland and Bend, Ore., is applying for U.S. and European market [...]

Updated 8:10 p.m., May 10, 2010.Atricure Inc. (NASDAQ: ATRC), the maker of cardiac surgical ablation systems, has received a conditional nod from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a hybrid procedure to treat patients with persistent forms of atrial fibrillation.The hybrid procedure “represents a key growth platform” for [...]

Despite several challenges in 2009–like a Department of Justice investigation and related whistle-blower lawsuit–AtriCure Inc. advanced toward profitability, added regulator approvals for its cardiac surgical ablation systems and developed new avenues of growth.

AtriCure Inc. has agreed to pay the United States $3.76 million to settle claims that it promoted its surgical ablation devices for unapproved uses and participated in medical insurance fraud.

AtriCure Inc. said today that it has tentatively settled a whistle-blower lawsuit with the Department of Justice so that it can concentrate on newly launched technologies, as well as on clinical trials to bring more new products to market. Investors pushed up AtriCure stock by 18 percent in early afternoon trading.

AtriCure had tied much of its future success to the AtriClip. Minimally invasive product revenue has fallen at AtriCure in part because of a change in techniques among physicians that’s not compatible with some of the company’s products. The AtriClip accommodates the “single clamp” approach. Plus, the company thinks this device can also be used for open-heart procedures.

Dr. A. Marc Gillinov, who leads the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Atrial Fibrillation, has joined the scientific advisory board of the New Jersey device company Endovalve.

Comedian and actor Robin Williams is recovering after a March 13 heart surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. On March 5, Williams, 57, postponed a tour of his acclaimed one-man comedy show, Weapons of Self-Destruction, saying he needed an aortic valve replacement.