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Unique Pressure System Relieves Angina Even In Patients With No Recourse
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WASHINGTON -- April 28, 1997 -- Four abstracts on EECP(R) to be presented at Biomedicine '97 show that this noninvasive treatment of angina pectoris can relieve incapacitating angina effectively even when prior invasive procedures fail.
"Abstracts to be presented at this important scientific meeting document further the favorable clinical outcomes in angina patients treated with EECP,"commented Anthony E. Peacock, vice president of Clinical Affairs, Vasomedical Inc. "Vasomedical's continuing investment in the clinical development of EECP is bearing fruit as the weight of clinical evidence supporting EECP(R) as a safe and effective treatment of angina continues to mount. Accordingly, EECP is fast becoming an established medical procedure in cardiology."
Biomedicine '97, which is being held on April 25-27 in Washington, D.C., is the annual meeting of the Association of American Physicians, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the American Federation for Medical Research.
Angina pectoris, affecting more than seven million people in the U.S., strikes when obstructed coronary arteries deprive the heart muscle of oxygen adequate to its needs. EECP is an outpatient procedure to relieve angina pectoris by improving perfusion of insufficiently supplied areas of the heart.
Five-year follow-up of angina patients treated with EECP
A new five year follow-up study indicates that EECP holds lasting benefit for patients with chronic angina pectoris. Researchers at the State University of New York at Stony Brook followed 33 patients with extensive disease, finding an 88% survival rate five years after receiving treatment with EECP. Sixty percent had not suffered heart attacks, had not required other revascularization therapy, nor been hospitalized for coronary-related problems since receiving EECP.
"EECP appears to sustain patients effectively over the long term. These patients remained free of disabling angina -- which had restricted their lives," noted William E. Lawson, M.D. Dr. Lawson, who is Director of Preventive Cardiology and Associate Professor of Medicine, State University of New York at Stony Brook, has been researching EECP for nearly 10 years.
Patients with triple vessel disease can benefit from EECP
Two abstracts expanded on previous research to offer new insights into treating people with triple vessel disease. Previous research showed that patients with one or two arteries narrowed or blocked by coronary artery disease received greater benefit from EECP than patients with all three vessels affected (triple vessel disease).
"Our study found that people with triple vessel disease who had undergone prior bypass surgery responded well to EECP. Patients were able to exercise for longer period of time before reaching ST segment depression or developing angina. Eighty percent of these patients showed significant improvement on radionuclide graded exercise tests after EECP(R) compared with 22 percent of patients with native triple vessel disease," said Dr. Lawson.
Dr. Lawson went on to observe, "When we interpret these findings in terms of patients' response to treatment, it seems evident that most patients who have had bypass surgery are good candidates for counterpulsation, and EECP may serve as a valuable adjunct to bypass surgery."
The studies also enlarged upon previous research indicating that EECP is more effective when at least one native conduit or bypass graft, supplying blood to the heart muscle, remains open to transmit the blood pressure necessary to create or enlarge a network of tiny channels called collaterals within the heart. EECP may stimulate the development of these collaterals into vessels large enough to compensate for blocked arteries.
Maximizing hemodynamic benefit
A fourth study provides evidence that optimal results from counterpulsation are directly related to the magnitude of diastolic augmentation. This study, using Doppler echo of the descending aorta to measure forward and backward flow, demonstrated a linear increase in both measures reaching a plateau at 1.5 - 2.0 augmented diastolic to systolic ratio. The authors concluded that a diastolic augmentation range of 1.5 - 2.0 is optimal for maximizing the hemodynamic effects and, perhaps, the benefits of EECP while minimizing external cuff pressure.
People suffering with angina pectoris may receive Enhanced External Counterpulsation at hospitals and clinics in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Equipment, treatment guidelines and staff training are provided by Vasomedical Inc., Westbury, NY. |
