5000 patients enrolled. How many more treated?
WESTBURY, NY--(BW HealthWire)--August 14, 2001-- Vasomedical, Inc. (Nasdaq: VASO - news) announced
today that the International EECP Patient Registry (IEPR), coordinated by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School
of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, has reached its enrollment goal of 5,000 patients.
Data collected by the IEPR represent the single largest current pool of information available anywhere in the world on
patient outcomes associated with EECP® therapy. The IEPR was established in 1998 to document the safety and
efficacy of EECP® therapy during and immediately after the treatment period. According to data generated by the
IEPR, almost 80% of patients experience a reduction in angina following treatment with EECP® therapy and this benefit
has been shown to persist for up to two years after treatment. The status on the 5,000 patients currently enrolled in the
IEPR will continue to be tracked for at least three more years, providing follow-up data on the therapy's long-term
benefit.
The IEPR, sponsored by a grant from Vasomedical Inc., is run by the same research group that manages the National
Heart, Blood, Lung Institute's Dynamic Registry. The IEPR enrolls consecutive patients starting EECP® therapy for the
treatment of angina pectoris from participating EECP® treatment centers. IEPR patients typically have a long-standing
history of coronary disease, with chronic angina that is unable to be relieved by medication or revascularization
procedures like bypass surgery and angioplasty. Many patients have previously undergone such procedures for relief of
their symptoms, but without lasting success and most were not considered good candidates for these invasive
procedures at the time they began treatment with EECP® therapy.
Speaking on the recent achievement of the 5,000 patient milestone, Arthur Feldman, MD, Chief, Cardiology Division at
the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) stated, ``The IEPR has generated a significant amount of data
about EECP® therapy and contributed substantially to the medical community's understanding of the therapy and its
long-term benefits. The benefits achieved by the end of treatment appear to extend for up to two years in the majority of
patients in the Registry. The data from this large population of patients with angina confirm the benefits seen in the
MUST-EECP (Multicenter Study of Enhanced External Counterpulsation) trial and further substantiate the value of
EECP® therapy in patients with angina who cannot be treated with conventional revascularization procedures like
PTCA and bypass surgery. The data further suggest that EECP® therapy may be effective in certain subgroups of
patients including those with a history of congestive heart failure (CHF) and those with diabetes, however, clinical trials
will be necessary to define the benefits for these two populations.'' Diabetic patients are generally considered to be at
higher risk for developing cardiovascular disease, compared to the general population, and because they do not
respond well to usual revascularization procedures, challenge the limits of interventional cardiology. Dr. Feldman, past
president of the Heart Failure Society of America and the principal investigator for the PEECH(TM) (Prospective
Evaluation of EECP in Congestive Heart Failure) trial went on to say, ``These studies will take on enormous importance
considering the extreme prevalence of CHF and diabetes in this country.'' There are an estimated 15 million people in
the United States with Type 2 diabetes and more than 5 million people with congestive heart f |
