Contact Information: Contact Information: Stephen Feldschuh Chief Operating Officer 212-330-8515 stephen@daxor.com or Diane Meegan Investor Relations 212-330-8512 dmeegan@daxor.com
Daxor Announces That Pacific Cardiology of Honolulu, HI Acquires BVA-100 Blood Volume Analyzer
| Source: Daxor Corp.
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - August 31, 2009) - Daxor Corporation (NYSE Amex : DXR ), a medical
instrumentation and biotechnology company, today announced the receipt of a
signed trial agreement from Pacific Cardiology, LLC of Honolulu, Hawaii.
This will provide Pacific Cardiology with a Blood Volume Analyzer-100
(BVA-100), an instrument which enables semi-automated measurement of a
patient's total blood volume, red blood cell volume and plasma volume.
Blood volume abnormalities are observed in a variety of cardiac conditions.
Proper diagnosis and correction of blood volume abnormalities can lead to
improved patient outcomes.
Pacific Cardiology was co-founded by Dr. Gregg Yamada and Dr. Calvin Wong
in 2000. It became affiliated with Stanford University in 2007 and is one
of the largest medical practices in Hawaii. Pacific Cardiology provides
comprehensive cardiovascular care including advanced diagnostic imaging
methods and interventional therapies. Pacific Cardiology is certified in
ICAEL (Echo Cardiography), ICANL (Nuclear Medicine), and ICACTL (Computed
Tomography) laboratories. The practice places a strong emphasis on
preventative cardiology and lowering of patients' risk factors so as to
minimize the need for invasive procedures.
Another major area of concern is the treatment of Congestive Heart Failure
(CHF), which is a major medical expense for patients over 65 years of age.
Such patients require frequent readmission to the hospital to treat their
condition. Medicare is currently evaluating whether or not to withhold
reimbursement for CHF hospital readmissions which occur in less than 30
days. This will provide a strong economic incentive for hospitals to
provide treatments which are effective over the long-term.
In a previous study of 43 patients using the BVA-100, heart failure
patients who were treated to a normal blood volume showed a 100% survival
rate over a two-year period, in contrast to patients who remained volume
overloaded -- who showed only a 45% survival rate. These findings are
extremely significant in light of the fact that hospitals may lose their
reimbursement for repeat hospitalizations within a 30-day period for the
treatment of heart failure patients.
In addition to being able to provide clinical blood volume measurements for
their patients, Pacific Cardiology will also be participating in a clinical
trial (TEAM-HF) which will further examine whether blood volume assessment
followed by treatment to a normal volume status leads to improved outcomes
for heart failure patients. This trial will include 300 heart failure
patients from at least 9 medical centers. The objective of the TEAM-HF
Study is to determine the decrease in re-hospitalization and mortality, and
the improvement in exercise capacity and quality of life in heart failure
patients when a blood volume analysis has been incorporated into their
diagnosis and treatment. The Obama administration's efforts to improve the
efficiency of medical treatments are consistent with the main goals of the
TEAM-HF Study. If it can be determined in a large-scale study that a blood
volume analysis leads to more appropriate treatments and better outcomes,
the BVA-100 may become a standard of care in heart failure.
Daxor Corporation manufactures and markets the BVA-100, which is used in
conjunction with Volumex, Daxor's single use diagnostic kit. For more
information regarding Daxor Corporation's Blood Volume Analyzer BVA-100,
visit Daxor's website at www.Daxor.com.