Charles Hatcher, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon and former vice president of health affairs at Atlanta-based Emory University, died March 27 at Emory University Hospital. He was 90. 

Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Spectrum Health signed a risk-based deal with Medtronic to improve outcomes for heart failure patients, the health system said March 31.

Dipti Itchhaporia, MD, started her one-year term as president of the American College of Cardiology April 1. 

Here are four partnerships and affiliations centered on cardiac and cardiovascular care announced recently.

The FDA approved the world's first nonsurgical heart valve device meant to treat patients with severe pulmonary valve regurgitation, which often is a result of congenital heart disease, the agency announced March 26. 

Dignity Health Chandler (Ariz.) Regional Medical Center recently opened a heart arrhythmia center to diagnose and treat patients with irregular heartbeats. 

Between 10 percent and 15 percent of women experience adverse pregnancy outcomes, including six that increase the risk of developing heart disease later in life, the American Heart Association said in a statement published March 29 in Circulation.

The National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation is hosting a medical device pitch competition with MedTech Innovator to address the lack of pediatric heart devices, the groups announced March 23. 

Stereotactic body radiation therapy was successfully used to treat a man with ventricular tachycardia, a heart rhythm disorder, for the first time in Florida by specialists at Baptist Health's Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute and Miami Cancer Institute, the health system announced March 24. 

Harrisonburg, Va.-based Sentara RMH Medical Center opened a heart failure clinic that provides care to recently discharged patients with cardiac issues, the hospital said March 24. 

The American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association updated heart failure data standards and definitions in a March 23 report published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 

Clinicians at Scottsdale, Ariz.-based HonorHealth recently implanted a leadless pacemaker in the first U.S. patient as part of a new clinical trial with the HonorHealth Research Institute, the organization said March 22.

Abeel Mangi, MD, has been named chair of cardiac surgery for Baltimore-based MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute.

The Texas Heart Institute in Houston announced March 16 that Joseph Rogers, MD, will become president and CEO effective May 17.

Dayton, Ohio-based Kettering Health Network partnered with The Christ Hospital Health Network to open the region's first heart failure clinic.

Neptune, N.J.-based Jersey Shore University Medical Center and Miami-based Mercy Hospital are among several hospitals that have recently launched new heart centers or clinics since Feb. 12. 

Genetic testing may help clinicians select the most appropriate blood thinner medication for patients, according to a study published March 17 in ACC: Cardiovascular Intervention.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued draft recommendations March 16 to lower the starting age for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes screening from age 40 to 35.

Cody (Wyo.) Regional Health opened a cardiovascular screening clinic, called Heart Check, March 15. 

Peoria, Ill.-based OSF Saint Francis Medical Medical Center, part of OSF HealthCare, has restored its heart transplant program after being suspended due to low patient volume in 2007, the health system announced March 15.