New Medication May Lower Costs, Reduce Mortality for Patients With Heart Failure, Study Indicates
OAK LAWN, Ill., March 6 /PRNewswire/ -- A new medication derived from a hormone naturally secreted by the heart may reduce the risk of death and lower health-care costs for patients who have been hospitalized for treatment of congestive heart failure, according to researchers at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Ill.
In a study published in the March 6 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, physicians reported that congestive heart failure patients receiving a new intravenous (IV) drug, nesiritide, required less treatment and experienced fewer complications than those undergoing traditional therapies that include use of the standard drug, dobutamine.
"Most importantly, we found that readmissions to the hospital were fewer for patients treated with nesiritide and that the six-month rate of mortality was lower for this group than for those treated with standard medications," said the study's lead author, Dr. Marc Silver, chairman of the Department of Medicine and director of the Heart Failure Institute at Christ Medical Center.
The clinical trial, conducted at 46 institutions throughout the country, involved more than 300 congestive heart failure patients, approximately two-thirds of whom received varying doses of nesiritide. The remainder underwent standard treatment with dobutamine.
During a three-week period following hospital discharge, the rate of readmission to the hospital for congestive heart failure or for any other reason was down as much as 60 percent for those receiving the new medication when compared to the group on standard therapy, the study demonstrated. Six-month mortality rate also was significantly lower -- 18 percent to 24 percent mortality for those on nesiritide versus 31 percent for the dobutamine-treated patients.
The first in a new class of drugs, nesiritide is a recombinant form of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), a hormone that is secreted by the heart when the heart begins to fail. In fact, Christ Medical Center was the first institution in Illinois to begin using a simple blood test that detects the level of BNP in a person's bloodstream as a quick, cost-effective way of diagnosing heart failure in patients -- even in those who have not yet developed symptoms.
The study authors noted that the favorable clinical results obtained with nesiritide may be due to the neurohormonal changes and the enhanced diuretic effect associated with the medication.
An estimated 5 million Americans suffer from congestive heart failure, with 550,000 new cases diagnosed annually. More than 1 million hospitalizations, with a cost to the health-care system of $15 billion, occur in the United States each year as a result of acute congestive heart failure. Another 2 million Americans are hospitalized annually with acute congestive heart failure as a secondary diagnosis.
Congestive heart failure accounts for the greatest number of hospitalizations of patients over the age of 65.
During an episode of acute heart failure, the heart's inability to circulate blood adequately throughout the body worsens to the point where hospitalization is necessary to stabilize the patient's condition. A sudden increase in salt in a person's diet, a patient's failure to take prescribed oral medications or the development of a new heart problem can cause these acute episodes.
Virtually all congestive heart failure patients will experience at least one acute episode, in which the symptoms become so severe that only intravenous medications administered in the hospital can improve a patient's condition.
The study was supported by a grant from Scios, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCIO), a biopharmaceutical company based in Sunnyvale, Calif., and the manufacturer of nesiritide.
Located at 4440 W. 95th St. in Oak Lawn, Christ Medical Center is a 662-bed institution that is part of the Advocate Health Care system. The medical center is the Chicago area's largest and most comprehensive provider of heart care and is nationally recognized for its use of innovative technologies and advanced procedures in the treatment of heart disease. Cancer care, pediatrics, care of high-risk mothers and infants, women's health services and general surgery are other specialties for which Christ Medical Center is noted.
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SOURCE Advocate Christ Medical Center
CO: Advocate Christ Medical Center; Journal of the American College of Cardiology; Scios, Inc.
ST: Illinois, California
IN: HEA BIO
SU: SVY
03/06/2002 09:00 EST prnewswire.com |
