St. Jude Medical (St. Paul, Minnesota) has released the initial findings from its Riata lead evaluation study. The study's phase-one results indicate that externalized conductors occur less frequently in thinner leads. According to the study, externalized conductors occurred in 9.3% of the smaller-diameter Riata ST 7 Fr leads in the study and in 24% of the larger-diameter Riata 8 Fr leads.