URG-L: Le BNP ?

Alain Chamoun Wed, 26 Dec 2001 07:44:16 -0800

En association avec le BNP?

CardioDynamics Announces Commencement Of ED-IMPACT Study by World-Renown Research Institution

BioZ's Utility Measured in Improving Diagnosis And Treatment in the Emergency Department

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- CardioDynamics International (Nasdaq: CDIC - news), the innovator and market leader of Impedance Cardiography (ICG) technology and manufacturer of BioZ� noninvasive digital cardiac function monitoring systems, today announced the commencement of the ED-IMPACT Study (Emergency Department IMPedance Cardiography-aided Assessment Changes Therapy) being conducted at the Cleveland Clinic and the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The ED-IMPACT Study, led by Frank Peacock, M.D., Director of Clinical Operations, Emergency Department at the Cleveland Clinic and Richard L. Summers, M.D., Associate Professor and Research Director, Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Mississippi, will study the BioZ's impact on diagnosis and treatment of patients who have shortness of breath in the emergency department.

``Given the high morbidity and mortality rates, and high cost of re-admissions, there is an urgent need for emergency departments to examine new strategies for treatment,'' stated Frank Peacock, M.D., co-investigator of the ED-IMPACT Study. ``The BioZ's noninvasive hemodynamic data has the potential of improving how emergency physicians assess and treat patients. The main purpose of the ED-IMPACT Study will be to demonstrate the specific impact that the BioZ data has on a physician's initial diagnosis and treatment plan with patients who are presented to the emergency department with shortness of breath. Additionally, the Study design will allow us to compare BioZ ICG's parameters to other diagnostic test procedures, including chest x-ray, echocardiography, and BNP (B-type Natriuretic Peptide), and how well the BioZ parameters predict hospital length of stay, charges, and mortality compared to the standard vital signs.''

Shortness of breath is one of the primary causes for the over 95 million visits to emergency departments each year. According to ``Hospital Update,'' the highest percentage of medical claims against providers in the United States during 1996 and 1997 involved the ED. Delayed or omitted treatment, presumably due to the incorrect diagnosis, was the second most frequent claim. Physicians are in need of a fast, accurate and reliable method to help differentiate heart failure, asthma, and other conditions associated with shortness of breath, and allow more targeted therapy at the underlying disorder.

``There have been several studies validating the value of the BioZ in the emergency department. The ED-IMPACT Study has the potential to demonstrate improved outcomes and definitively establish the BioZ's ICG technology as the first line in providing an efficient method of determining the underlying patient diagnosis and identifying appropriate treatment,'' stated Michael K. Perry, Chief Executive Officer of CardioDynamics. ``Our proprietary technology has the potential to reduce costly hospitalization admittance and length of stay.