Study: Lower hospitalization rates for St. Jude Medical’s CardioMEMS heart failure monitor

St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ) put another brick in the wall of its defense of the CardioMEMS heart failure monitor, which was assailed earlier this year by claims that the device is not cost-effective. New data from the St. Paul, Minn.-based company’s 550-patient Champion trial, published online yesterday in The Lancet, showed lower hospitalization rates for patients treating using data from the CardioMEMS device. The trial compared patients treated using CardioMEMS with standard care for heart failure, with a primary outcome of hospital admissions. After the last patient enrolled completed 6 months of follow-up for an average of 18 months, some 170 subjects were transferred to the treatment arm for a 2-year open enrollment phase averaging 13 months. The initial control group showed a 33% reduction in hospitalizations, while there was a 48% reduction for patients from the control group who moved to the treatment arm. There were 8 (1%) device-related or system-related complications and 7 (1%) procedure-related adverse events, according to the study. “This rigorous analysis showed a dramatic, long-term impact for high-risk patients who were managed with the CardioMEMS HF system,” medical affairs VP Dr. Philip Adamson said in prepared remarks. “During the 1st 18 months, the control group hospitalization rates remained high, but once patient management using pressure data from the CardioMEMS HF system was introduced for the 1st time, we saw a hosp...
Source: Mass Device - Category: Medical Equipment Authors: Tags: Cardiovascular Clinical Trials Patient Monitoring St. Jude Medical Source Type: news