NIH-funded study using SphygmoCor published

AtCor Medical (ASX: ACG) the developer and marketer of the SphygmoCor® system which measures central blood pressure and arterial stiffness noninvasively, today announced the publication of a key National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study using SphygmoCor in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).

The study "High Central Pulse Pressure Is Independently Associated with Adverse Cardiovascular Outcome" followed 2,405 participants over a period averaging 5.6 years. It was found that when central pulse pressure exceeded 50 mm Hg, the risk of a cardiovascular event sharply increased. No similar predictive relationship was found with standard cuff blood pressure measurements taken at the arm. Patients in the highest quartile of central pulse pressure (50mm Hg or > ) were 70% more likely to experience cardiovascular events than those in the lowest quartile ( < 31mm Hg).

The study concludes that central pulse pressure greater than 50 mm Hg predicts adverse cardiovascular outcome and that central pulse pressure may serve as a target for intervention strategies in patient care.

"It is not surprising that central blood pressure correlates better with target organ damage and cardiovascular outcomes than brachial blood pressure does, because it more accurately reflects vascular load on the left ventricle and cerebral and coronary vasculature," the study authors stated.

"The publication of this study is a major event for AtCor Medical," said Duncan Ross, AtCor Medical's President and CEO. "Many studies have established that increased central pressure is associated with increased cardiovascular risk -- and that central pressure can be reduced with drug therapy and lifestyle changes. But now, for the first time, clinicians have a specific central pressure target for use in intervention strategies.

"The evidence continues to accumulate and is very compelling; reliance on brachial cuff pressures to assess risk and develop intervention strategies masks many patients' true risk and when brachial cuff and central pressures are included in the same model, brachial cuff pressures cease to be statistically significant. In patient care and in pharmaceutical trials it is critically important to assess central pressures."