New U.S. Blood Pressure Guidelines Highlight the Need for Individualization of Care
ITASCA, Ill. (PRWEB) November 21, 2017 -- AtCor Medical Holdings Limited (ASX:ACG), the developer and marketer of the SphygmoCor system for advanced and individualized hypertension management, today highlighted the importance of SphygmoCor technology to the new American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association blood pressure guidelines, which set lower targets of 130/80 millimeters of mercury for most people. Management to these targets will require proven technologies to enhance measurement and better tailor the management of blood pressure to the individual patient.
Using a regular blood pressure cuff, the SphygmoCor system measures both the traditional (brachial arm cuff) and central blood pressure. Central blood pressure is the pressure that the heart, brain and kidneys actually experience and it cannot be determined by brachial blood pressure. For any given brachial blood pressure reading, central aortic blood pressure may vary, based on the unique physiology and condition of each patient, by up to 30 millimeters of mercury. As a result, with lower blood pressure targets there is a risk of central pressure being driven dangerously low without the physician’s knowledge.
“Implementing these guidelines requires a better way to individualize hypertension management,” said Hunter Champion, MD, Director of Heart Failure and Pulmonary Vascular Disease at Southeastern Cardiology Associates in Columbus, GA and Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine/Cardiology at Mercer University School of Medicine. “We use SphygmoCor in our practice and the results often lead to a reduction in medication required for proper control. Central pressure should be taken into account when managing to the new guidelines and this is especially important in older patients as there often exists significant disparity between brachial and central aortic pressures. Using central aortic pressure prevents overmedication which could result in serious problems such as fatigue, dizziness and syncope (passing out).”
The Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT), which formed the basis of the new guidelines, had greater occurrence of hypotension (too-low blood pressure which can result in dizziness and falls) and acute kidney injury, which can be caused by hypotension, in the patients who were treated most intensively to target lower blood pressure. Having both brachial pressure and the central pressure waveform allows a physician to individualize treatment decisions.
“Numerous studies have reported the differential drug effects on central as compared to brachial pressure,” said Ricardo Cordido, MD, Founder of Heartcare Associates of Connecticut. “We use SphygmoCor in our clinics to gain a better understanding of individualized risk, which better informs drug selection and helps us manage patients to guidelines.”
In January 2016, after years of research and over 1,000 peer-reviewed publications, the American Medical Association approved a reimbursement code (CPT code 93050) for new devices which noninvasively derive the central aortic waveform and indices to better inform brachial blood pressure management in select patient populations.
About AtCor Medical
AtCor Medical develops and markets products for the early detection of target organ damage and management of cardiovascular and renal disease. Its technology allows researchers and clinicians to noninvasively measure the central arterial pressure waveform, central aortic pressures and pulse wave velocity. Central arterial pressure waveform analysis, as measured by the company’s SphygmoCor® system, provides clinicians with better prognostic and diagnostic information to determine the need for and type of interventions, effects which cannot be detected with standard brachial blood pressure measurements. SphygmoCor® is essential for hypertension management. SphygmoCor® is a registered trademark of AtCor Medical Pty Ltd and its related parties.
Mary Hoxworth, AtCor Medical, http://www.atcormedical.com, +1 (206) 861-3805, [email protected]
Share this article