Dow Jones Newswires
Imatron Says Scan Pdt Helps In Emergency Rooms;
Stk Up 52.2%
Dow Jones Newswires
SAN FRANCISCO -- Imatron Inc. (IMAT) said a study of patients scanned by its Electron Beam CT coronary artery scan found "the negative predictive value of the product for predicting significant coronary artery disease was 100%."
In a press release Thursday, the company said the sensitivity of the scan for identification of acute myocardial infarction, or heart attack, compares favorably to that of only 35% to 50% sensitivity for standard electrocardiograms and single determination of cardiac
enzymes, which are in common use today.
The study also suggests that patients admitted to the emergency department with angina-like chest pain, who have normal initial cardiac enzymes and normal or indeterminate electrocardiographic findings, may be able to be effectively triaged by
Electron Beam CT images of their coronary arteries, and that a negative scan may allow discharge of the patient from the emergency department without further testing.
Imatron also said the study reported that 54% of patients could have been discharged on the basis of the Coronary Artery Scan results without further testing.
The pilot study of 100 patients, which evaluated the role of Inatron's Ultrafast CT in the evaluation of emergency department chest pain patients, was conducted at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and reported in the Jan. 1 edition of the "Annals of Emergency Medicine."
Imatron shares recently traded at 2 3/16, up 3/4, or 52.2%, on heavy volume.
Imatron designs, makes, marketes and supports computed tomography scanners based on its proprietary scanning electron beam technology. |
