BOTHELL, Wash., March 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cardiac Science Corporation , a global leader in advanced cardiac monitoring and defibrillation products sold under the trusted Quinton(R), Powerheart(R) and Burdick(R) brands, today announced groundbreaking new research that can be used to help predict a patient’s likelihood of dying from cardiovascular causes such as sudden cardiac death, commonly known as a fatal heart attack.
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The research, conducted in collaboration with Stanford University Medical Center/VA Palo Alto Health Care System, shows that a new dimension of analysis of cardiac stress testing data can be used to determine whether patients are more than 10 times as likely to experience cardiovascular death (CVD). The findings were announced at the American College of Cardiology’s 55th Annual Scientific Session in Atlanta, Georgia on March 14, 2006.
Cardiovascular causes continue to be the leading cause of death in the United States, according to the American Heart Association. Cardiac stress testing, one of the most cost-effective and widely used cardiac screening tests, has traditionally been considered an effective method of identifying coronary artery disease with only limited diagnostic value for other cardiovascular problems.
The method of analyzing cardiac stress testing data shows that patients in the test population with abnormal heart rate variability, when combined with an abnormal Duke Treadmill Score, are more than 10 times as likely to experience CVD. When using the Duke Treadmill Score alone, which is the current “gold standard” for assessing cardiovascular risk, patients in the study were only identified as being three to four times more likely to experience CVD.
Dr. Victor Froelicher, Professor of Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Director of ECG and Exercise Laboratories at the Palo Alto VA Health Care System, and widely recognized as a leading industry expert in cardiac stress testing, participated in the research.
“These exciting results were developed through a substantial study population of nearly 2,000 patients with 70 deaths occurring from cardiovascular causes over the five year follow-up,” said Dr. Froelicher. “We are excited about the potential to extend the value of cardiac stress testing, already recognized as a gold standard in the identification of coronary artery disease, into important new diagnostic dimensions.”
“Developing new ways to extract significant prognostic information from cardiac stress test data represents a key milestone in our long-term efforts to support the identification of patients at increased risk of cardiovascular death,” said Dr. David Hadley, vice president of research at Cardiac Science. “As a company with more than half a century of leadership in cardiac stress testing, we are committed to innovative research that will increase the effectiveness of tools for physicians to diagnose heart disease.”
For many victims of cardiovascular death, there is often no advance warning before a victim collapses. Increasing the diagnostic effectiveness of cardiac stress testing, which is frequently used and low-cost, could enhance the early identification of patients who are at increased risk.
Details of the study and its findings were released at the Poster Session (1017) titled “New Advances in Exercise Physiology and Testing,” on Tuesday, March 14 at 12:30 p.m. in the Georgia World Congress Center (Hall B1).
About Cardiac Science Corporation
Cardiac Science develops, manufactures, and markets a family of advanced diagnostic and therapeutic cardiology devices and systems, including automated external defibrillators, electrocardiographs, stress test systems, Holter monitoring systems, hospital defibrillators, cardiac rehabilitation telemetry systems, patient monitor- defibrillators and cardiology data management systems. Cardiac Science Corporation also sells a variety of related products and consumables, and provides a comprehensive portfolio of training, maintenance and support services.
The company is the successor to various entities that have owned and operated cardiology-related businesses, which sold products under the trusted brand names Burdick(R), Powerheart(R), and Quinton(R). Cardiac Science is headquartered in Bothell, WA, and also has operations in Lake Forest, California, Deerfield, Wisconsin, Shanghai, China, Copenhagen, Denmark and Manchester, United Kingdom.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. The words “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” anticipate,” variations of such words, and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that the statement is not forward-looking. Forward looking statements in this press release include those that infer or imply that we will be able to successfully commercialize applications incorporating new diagnostic cardiology techniques. These are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may vary significantly from the results expressed or implied in such statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such varying results and other risks are more fully described in the registration statement on Form S-4/A that was filed by Cardiac Science Corporation under the name CSQ Holding Company on July 28, 2005, under the caption “Risk Factors,” and in the Annual Reports of Quinton Cardiology Systems, Inc. and Cardiac Science, Inc. on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004, under the captions “Certain Factors that May Affect Future Results,” in Cardiac Science Corporation’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2005 under the caption “Certain Factors that May Affect Future Results” and in other documents, we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Cardiac Science Corporation undertakes no duty or obligation to update the information provided herein.
CONTACT: Mike Matysik Cardiac Science Corp. Sr. Vice President and CFO +1-425-402-2009 Traci Paulk The Fearey Group for Cardiac Science Corp. +1-206-343-1543
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CONTACT: media, Mike Matysik, Sr. Vice President and CFO, of CardiacScience Corp., +1-425-402-2009; or Traci Paulk of The Fearey Group,+1-206-343-1543, for Cardiac Science Corp.
Web site: http://www.cardiacscience.com//
