Real-World Impact on Heart Failure Mortality and Readmissions of Individualized Care Guided by Blood Volume Analysis: New Data Presented at the American College of Cardiology Congress

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Apr 6, 2016) - Daxor Corporation (NYSE MKT: DXR), an investment company with medical instrumentation and biotechnology operations, announces the first interventional outcomes data to be presented in heart failure patients receiving individualized care guided by direct blood volume analysis (BVA). The data were presented at the American College of Cardiology congress by John E. Strobeck, MD, PhD during a moderated poster presentation session, "Hemodynamics in Heart Failure: What's New?", on Saturday, April 2 (abstract 1160M-01). Co-authoring the analysis was Wayne L. Miller, MD, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic.

Dr Joseph Feldschuh, Chief Scientific Officer for Daxor, noted, "The improvement in heart failure mortality and readmissions that Dr Strobeck has achieved compared to benchmarks are provocative and very encouraging. It is my hope that the individualized care BVA makes possible will enable meaningful progress to be made in our approach to managing this high-needs patient population."

Dr Strobeck reported the results of a retrospective analysis of mortality and readmissions outcomes in a mixed community cohort of 250 patients hospitalized for heart failure over the course of four years for whom at least 1 year of follow-up data were available or death was recorded within 1 year. Patients received at least one BVA test at or near admission with follow-up as needed. BVA results were integrated into each patient's decongestion strategy. Outcomes for this cohort were statistically compared to hospital (30-day mortality and readmissions rates) or national (365-day mortality rate) Medicare benchmark outcomes.

For this real-world mixed cohort of 250 heart failure patients receiving individualized care guided by BVA, the 30-day all-cause mortality rate was 1.2%, which is significantly lower than the institutional Medicare benchmark rate of 10.7% (P < 0.001), implying an 84% relative reduction in the risk of 30-day readmissions compared with conventionally managed patients. This difference in mortality was maintained to one year, with a 365-day mortality rate of 3.6% vs the national Medicare benchmark rate of 22.0% (P < 0.001).

The 30-day readmissions rate in this cohort was 11.6%, which is significantly lower than the institutional Medicare benchmark rate of 24.2% (P < 0.001), implying a 52% relative reduction in the risk of 30-day readmissions compared with conventionally managed patients. Since 2013, Medicare has been financially penalizing hospitals with above-average 30-day readmissions rates for heart failure patients. This result has important implications not only for improving the treatment of heart failure but also for reducing hospital financial penalties.

Dr Strobeck stated, "Directly measuring intravascular blood volume makes it possible to individualize the decongestion strategy according to the confirmed and quantified need of each patient. Based on the outcomes observed in this cohort, this may represent an important difference from the conventional approach. Effectively identifying and managing the anemia also seems to meaningfully impact outcomes."

Volume overload is a hallmark of heart failure, and the accurate measurement and management of congestion is a core concern for physicians in this setting. Clinical signs and symptoms alone are well understood to be inadequately sensitive and specific in the evaluation of volume status. Indirect metrics such as hemodynamic pressures, although informative in other respects, have demonstrated poor correlation with measured total blood volume. Alternative direct technologies utilizing dyes and fluorescing markers have repeatedly failed to deliver accurate results. Only BVA enables clinicians to measure a patient's blood volume directly and with 98% accuracy. Additionally, BVA is the only metric for quantifying RBC volume status to deliver consistent accuracy regardless of plasma expansion or depletion.

Although many observational studies with BVA have been performed in heart failure, this independent single-center retrospective cohort study represents the first time interventional outcomes utilizing individualized management strategy guided by BVA have been reported in the heart failure setting.

Stated Michael Feldschuh, acting President and CEO: "This exciting interventional study reinforces the importance of the ACC guidelines' emphasis on the importance of achieving euvolemia (normal blood volume) in treating hospitalized heart failure patients. The results confirm the existing body of observational evidence suggesting that normal blood volume at discharge is predictive of better outcomes in heart failure patients. Dr Strobeck's outcomes suggest the potential for BVA-guided care to reduce mortality and readmissions to a meaningful degree, with concomitant resource utilization benefits for hospitals and healthcare systems, through the use of a simple, quick, and noninvasive test."

Daxor Corporation manufactures and markets the BVA-100 Blood Volume Analyzer, 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.