WASHINGTON, March 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- New late-breaking featured clinical research presented today adds strong clinical support for Abbott's CardioMEMS^™ HF System as an effective real-world approach to reduce heart failure hospitalizations and combat the rising cost of heart failure. The CardioMEMS HF System is the first and only U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved monitor that, when used by physicians to manage heart failure, has been shown to significantly reduce heart failure hospital admissions and improve the quality of life in patients with heart failure (NYHA Class III). The latest research includes more than 1,100 Medicare patients and was presented today during the American College of Cardiology (ACC) 66^th Annual  Scientific Sessions in Washington, D.C., and simultaneously published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).

Researchers found a 46 percent reduction in heart failure hospitalizations in patients six months after receiving the CardioMEMS HF System, and a 34 percent reduction at 12 months post-implant. The data are consistent with what was seen in the CHAMPION clinical trial, further confirming that when physicians adjust medications based on the patient's pulmonary artery pressures, related hospitalizations are significantly reduced.

"These results support the clinical effectiveness and potential cost savings of using an implantable hemodynamic monitor to help with heart failure management," said Akshay Desai, M.D., director of the Heart Failure Disease Management Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Mass. "Reducing heart failure hospitalizations is an important goal for patients and hospitals alike, and may help to improve long-term clinical outcomes and quality of life for our patients."

The data also showcased important cost-savings captured through reductions in heart failure hospitalizations associated with the use of the CardioMEMS HF System. In particular, in the six months post-implant, each patient had an average reduction of more than $10,500 in comprehensive health care costs compared to the six months prior to implant. Twelve month post-implant analysis showed a $13,190 reduction in costs per patient. 

"The reduction in hospitalizations and costs associated with heart failure confirmed by these data shows that proactive patient management with the CardioMEMS HF System is successful in mainstream practice and results in improved clinical outcomes," said Philip Adamson, M.D., medical director of Abbott's heart failure business. "Success with this technology for us means helping patients get back to living their life."

Data were collected using U.S. Medicare claims from patients undergoing a CardioMEMS sensor implant to measure pulmonary artery pressure, and the rates of heart failure hospitalizations from before and after the implant were compared. Comprehensive heart failure-related costs were also compared. The data confirmed that hemodynamic (pulmonary artery pressure) monitoring with the CardioMEMS HF System in an outpatient setting reduced heart failure hospitalization for patients while also reducing related costs.

Additional data on managing heart failure patients with the CardioMEMS HF System published on Feb. 22, 2017, in Circulation—Impact of Practice Based Management of PA Pressures in 2,000 Patients Implanted with the CardioMEMS Sensor—showed that patient compliance and physician-directed management outside of a clinical study led to a significant reduction of pulmonary artery pressures.

About Abbott's Heart Failure Portfolio:
Abbott is pioneering heart failure disease management with innovative solutions like the CardioMEMS HF System, ground-breaking quadripolar pacing technology, our first-to-market MultiPoint^™ pacing technology and, in select European markets, the HeartMate^™ 3 left ventricular assist system. Abbott collaborates with heart failure specialists, clinicians and advocacy partners to provide innovative, cost-effective solutions that help reduce hospitalizations and improve patient quality of life for heart failure patients around the world.

About Abbott:
At Abbott (NYSE: ABT), we're committed to helping people live their best possible life through the power of health. For more than 125 years, we've brought new products and technologies to the world -- in nutrition, diagnostics, medical devices and branded generic pharmaceuticals -- that create more possibilities for more people at all stages of life. Today, 94,000 of us are working to help people live not just longer, but better, in the more than 150 countries we serve.

Connect with us at www.abbott.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Abbott and on Twitter @AbbottNews and @AbbottGlobal.

SOURCE Abbott