Newly-Released Study Demonstrates the Benefits of Adding Central Blood Pressure to Standard of Care in Hypertension

(PRWEB) September 26, 2013

AtCor Medical (ASX: ACG), the developer and marketer of the SphygmoCor® system which measures central aortic blood pressures and arterial stiffness noninvasively, today announced that the results of a new randomized clinical study has demonstrated the benefits of using central blood pressure measurement to manage the health of patients with high blood pressure (also known as hypertension).

The study, designed to determine the value of central blood pressure for guiding management of hypertension, examined 286 patients being treated for hypertension at three Australian medical centres over 12 months. In a prospective, open-label, blinded-end point study where all patients received best-practice care, 144 of these patients also had therapy guided using central blood pressure measured with AtCor Medical’s SphygmoCor. The study concluded that ‘guidance of hypertension management with central blood pressure results in a significantly different therapeutic pathway than conventional cuff blood pressure, with less use of medication to achieve blood pressure control and no adverse effects on left ventricular mass, aortic stiffness, or quality of life.’

AtCor Medical chief executive officer Duncan Ross said, “This study points towards the medical and economic value of using central blood pressure to guide management of hypertensive patients. The results have worldwide significance and clearly demonstrate the benefits of using central blood pressure in clinical care.”

Lead study author Associate Professor James Sharman said that central blood pressure is considered to be a more accurate indicator of the pressure the heart and other vital organs experience.

“The main finding was that significantly less medication was needed to achieve healthy blood pressure levels when treatment decisions were based on central blood pressure. Sixteen per cent of the participants came off medication altogether. These are important findings because people taking these medications can experience unwanted side effects that impact on quality of life, but these adverse effects are less likely with lower doses. We are very excited by the results which provide the framework for a better way to care for people with high blood pressure,” Associate Professor Sharman said.

Authors of the study believed the trial broke new ground, saying in the report that ‘To our knowledge, this is the first randomized trial specifically designed to test the efficacy of using central blood pressure monitoring to guide therapy in patients with hypertension.’

The study results are published in the paper ‘Randomized trial of guiding hypertension management using central aortic blood pressure compared with best-practice care: Principal findings of the BP GUIDE study’ published online in advance of publication in the American Heart Association’s journal Hypertension.

About AtCor Medical
AtCor Medical develops and markets products for the early detection of cardiovascular risk and management of cardiovascular disease. Its technology allows researchers and clinicians to measure central blood pressure non-invasively. The company’s SphygmoCor® system visibly identifies the effects of reflected blood pressure in the central aortic pressure wave, effects which cannot be detected with standard blood pressure monitoring. More than 3,200 SphygmoCor® systems are currently in use worldwide at major medical institutions, research institutions and in various clinical trials with leading pharmaceutical companies, and the company’s technology have been featured in over 700 peer-reviewed studies published in leading medical journals. AtCor has operations in Australia, the United States, and Europe. For further information, please visit our web site at http://www.atcormedical.com.

For further information, please contact:
Duncan Ross – AtCor Medical CEO
+1 (630) 228 8873

Peter Manley – AtCor Medical CFO
+61 (2) 8815 8811

Media enquiries to:
Ashley Rambukwella – Financial & Corporate Relations
Ph: +61 (2) 8264 1004/ m. 0407 231 282 or a.rambukwella(at)fcr(dot)com.au

Fiona Horwood – Menzies Research Institute Tasmania
Ph: +61 (3) 6226 7751 or Fiona.Horwood(at)utas(dot)edu.au

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