St. Jude Medical has reported increased sales and net earnings for the third quarter, which ended Oct. 2.

The St. Paul, Minn.-based company reported net sales of $1.24 billion in the third quarter of 2010, an increase of 7 percent compared with the $1.16 billion in the third quarter of 2009. Its reported net earnings for the third quarter of 2010 were $208 million, compared with reported net earnings for the third quarter of 2009 of $167 million.

In the 2010 third quarter, the company also recorded after-tax charges of $11 million, related primarily to closing and other costs associated with the acquisition of optical coherence tomography developer  LightLab Imaging, and recorded $12 million of in-process research and development expenses related to the acquisition of certain pre-development technology assets.

For its total cardiovascular sales, which primarily include vascular closure and heart valve products, sales were $240 million for the third quarter of 2010, a 4 percent increase over the year-over-year quarter, St. Jude said. Sales of vascular closure products in the third quarter of 2010 were $86 million. Heart valve product sales for the third quarter of 2010 were $78 million.

Atrial fibrillation product sales for the third quarter of 2010 totaled $169 million, an 8 percent increase over the third quarter of 2009, the company reported.

Its total cardiac rhythm sales, which include implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and pacemaker products, were $738 million for the third quarter of 2010, a 7 percent increase compared with the third quarter of 2009, according to St. Jude. Of that total, ICD product sales were $439 million in the third quarter, a 13 percent increase compared with the third quarter of 2009. Third quarter pacemaker sales were $299 million, consistent with the third quarter of 2009.

“We now have raised our 2010 EPS guidance range for the third time in three quarters,” said St. Jude Chairman, President and CEO Daniel J. Starks.