SonoSite Highlights Physician's Study Evaluating Heart Disease Risk; Physician Concludes That Vascular Ultrasound Screening Ide
September 03 2006 - 11:00AM
Business Wire
SonoSite, Inc. (Nasdaq:SONO), the world leader in hand-carried
ultrasound, announced today that Dr. John Postley of the New York
Physicians Group has presented results from his study demonstrating
that vascular ultrasound screening can be a more accurate means of
risk stratification for heart attack, particularly among women,
than the Framingham Risk Score, which has been the traditional
method of identifying cardiovascular risk. Dr. Postley presented
his study, "Gender Differences in the Relationship of Ultrasound
Identified Atherosclerosis to Framingham Risk Score," on Sunday,
September 3, at the World Congress of Cardiology 2006. (The
Congress is meeting at the Fira Gran Mia M2 in Barcelona until
September 6.) Dr. Postley used SonoSite hand-carried ultrasound
systems in his study, in which 120 patients from his practice were
examined with ultrasound for the presence of carotid and femoral
arterial plaque and the measurement of carotid intimal medial
thickness (CIMT). Among the 50 women in the study, Dr. Postley
found no correlation between Framingham Risk Scoring (FRS) and the
thickening of the endothelial lining of the carotid artery, or
CIMT, a well-established surrogate for cardiovascular disease
events. Further, while 72 percent of these women were at low risk
for heart attack according to FRS, 50 percent of this group had
incidence of plaque. Even in the absence of other risk factors,
presence of plaque is a proven precursor to heart attack and
stroke. Dr. Postley's poster can be viewed on SonoSite's website at
www.sonosite.com. "Atherosclerosis, as it ultimately leads to heart
attack and stroke, is the leading cause of death in the United
States and the mortality rate associated with the first heart
attack or stroke is very high," said Dr. Postley. "Clearly, a
better method for risk-stratifying patients is needed so that
preventive treatment can begin for those who need it most.
Screening for CIMT and plaque with vascular ultrasound can uncover
at-risk patients with greater accuracy than traditional methods,
and should allow for earlier intervention to prevent the
progression of disease. "CIMT and plaque screening should be
performed during the annual physical examination, and hand-carried
ultrasound is the ideal screening tool," added Dr. Postley. "With a
resolution limit of one-tenth of a millimeter, ultrasound can
detect early thickening of the intimal medial layer that would be
overlooked by CT or MR angiography. If ultrasound was more commonly
used in the physical exam, I believe it could save hundreds of
thousands of lives every year." "This is groundbreaking research,"
said Kevin M. Goodwin, President and CEO of SonoSite. "And it
underscores our belief that CIMT measurement belongs in the
physical exam, and that vascular imaging by primary care physicians
can enhance the life saving potential of a routine doctor's visit.
Dr. Postley's study should improve the early detection and
treatment of atherosclerosis and we are delighted that our systems
played such an important role." All CIMT measurements were made
with a SonoSite TITAN(R) system and patented SonoCalc(TM) IMT
automated edge detection software. SonoCalc IMT results can be used
adjunctively with other medical data by a physician to help assess
the cardiovascular health of a patient. Dr. Postley is a member of
SonoSite's IMT Advisory Board, a group of primary care physicians,
cardiologists and neurologists evaluating carotid IMT, to enhance
the physical examination and to more effectively identify and
manage patients at risk for cardiovascular disease. Abstract
Atherosclerosis as manifest in coronary artery disease,
cerebrovascular disease and peripheral vascular disease is the
leading cause of death in the United States. Mortality of first
events, particularly with myocardial infarction, is very high and
it is urgent that we have a method of identifying people at risk
before that initial event. The use of Common carotid intimal medial
thickness (CIMT) is well established as a surrogate for
cardiovascular disease events. The use of screening vascular
ultrasound of the carotid and femoral arteries as a surrogate of
coronary atherosclerosis has been validated by the CAFES-CAVE
study. Framingham Risk Score (FRS) has been the traditional method
of identifying cardiovascular risk. In the present study, 120
untreated and unselected patients drawn from a university based
group medical practice were evaluated by ultrasound for the
presence and type of carotid and femoral arterial bifurcation
plaque and the measurement of common carotid intimal medial
thickness (CIMT). The age range was 34 to 74 years and there were
50 women and 70 men evaluated. Distribution of FRS was among men:
0-6, 31%; 7-12, 39%; 13-25, 30% while among women: 0-6, 72% and
7-18, 28%. The correlation of FRS with Average CIMT was r=0.40 (p
less than 0.001) for all patients and the correlation of FRS with
Maximum CIMT was r=0.40 (p less than 0.001). When CIMT measurements
were divided by gender, correlation of FRS with Average mean CIMT
(r=0.49) and Maximum CIMT (r=0.47) was highly significant (p less
than 0.001) among men while there was no correlation for Average
CIMT (r=0.04, p=0.7) or for Maximum CIMT (r=0.07, p=0.6) among
women. This gender-based divergence of the correlation of CIMT with
FRS was repeated in the assessment of arterial plaque. Among men,
the incidence of any plaque for each FRS group was: 0-6, 27%; 7-12,
59%; 13-25, 67% while among women: 0-6, 50% and 7-18, 43%.
Screening vascular ultrasound analysis produces a different pattern
of risk assessment than does traditional Framingham risk analysis
particularly in women. The use of screening vascular ultrasound as
a complement to traditional risk analysis can uncover additional
patients at risk and allow earlier intervention to prevent disease
progression. About SonoSite SonoSite, Inc. (www.sonosite.com) is
the innovator and world leader in hand-carried ultrasound, with an
installed base of more than 25,000 systems. The company,
headquartered near Seattle, is represented by eight subsidiaries
and a global distribution network in over 75 countries. SonoSite's
small, lightweight systems are expanding the use of ultrasound
across the clinical spectrum by cost-effectively bringing
high-performance ultrasound to the point of patient care. The
company employs approximately 500 people worldwide.
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