New study shows improved outcomes

THE ROADHOUSE PHARMACY: AtCor Medical (ASX: ACG), the developer and marketer of the SphygmoCor® system which measures central aortic blood pressures and arterial stiffness noninvasively, has announced that the results of a clinical study which examined treatment of heart failure patients guided by central blood pressure waveform analysis, as measured by SphygmoCor, has been published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

AtCor Medical said the study found that patients who received medical therapy for heart failure which was guided by central augmentation index (Alx) were able to be treated more effectively with current standard medications, compared to when traditional methods using brachial cuff (arm) blood pressure were applied.
 
Using the central augmentation index to guide therapy resulted in a clinically significant improvement in exercise capacity (peak oxygen consumption), with no increased risk of hypotension or loss of kidney function.

The increase in exercise capacity was on par with the results of alternative heart failure treatments such as cardiac resynchronization therapy (implanting a pacemaker).

AtCor Medical indicated that this was the first randomised controlled trial to manage therapy using central aortic pressures in heart failure patients and was conducted at the Mayo Clinic and the University of Arizona Medical Centre.

The trial considered data from 50 subjects and assessed them over a 6-month period.
 
Adjustments to the patient’s medication were made at monthly intervals.

The primary study endpoint was improved exercise capacity, demonstrating reduced risk and improved quality of life for heart failure patients.

Central AIx is a key measure of arterial stiffness and pressure after load on the heart.

“Heart failure is a chronic, high-cost condition that has the attention of payers, physicians and patients alike,” AtCor Medical CEO Duncan Ross said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“This trial shows that physicians can manage patients with chronic heart failure more effectively using the central pressure waveform.

“The study also demonstrates the importance of measuring central aortic blood pressures, as measured by a fully featured waveform, to fully understand what is happening in the arterial system and at its intersection with the heart.

“AtCor’s ultimate goal is to have these central pressure measurements more widely adopted in pre-hypertension and early-stage hypertensive patients, allowing earlier intervention and preventing advancement to this stage of disease.”