Defibrillators

Sales of implantable cardioverter The results were "pretty much in line with relatively modest expectations," said Leerink Swann analyst Jason Wittes.

"Stents were so-so.

They continue to slide in line with what we would expect, given the J&J numbers." Boston Scientific competes in the stent market against Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N: Quote, Profile , Research), which last week reported a 27 percent drop in sales of its Cypher drug-coated stent.

Continued...

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said Monday that first-quarter earnings sank 64 percent as sales of its signature heart stents and The quarter's earnings were affected by $26 million in special charges related to the 2006 acquisition of Guidant Corp.

for $27 billion.Demand for drug-coated heart stents, which are made in Maple Grove, slowed in the wake of a recent study indicating that drugs are just as good at preventing heart attacks and prolonging lives.

These tiny mesh struts prop open clogged arteries leading to the heart, and the drug prevents the vessel from reclogging.The $5.4 billion drug-coated stent market has only two players in the United States: Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson.

Worldwide sales of Boston Scientific's drug-coated stent declined about 26 percent in the first quarter to $468 million.Ove...