Deltex Medical Regulatory News (DEMG)

5 Jul 2007 15:30

Deltex Medical Group PLC05 July 2007 Deltex Medical Group plc Independent report highlights CardioQ's role in improving surgical care in the NHS 5 July 2007 - Deltex Medical Group plc ("Deltex Medical" or "Company"), the UK'sleading haemodynamic monitoring company, announces the publication today by theImproving Surgical Outcomes Group (ISOG) of a pamphlet entitled "ModernisingCare for Patients Undergoing Major Surgery: Implementation Guide". The report highlights three key areas for improved outcomes: objectivepre-operative assessment of patient fitness, intra-operative fluid interventionand appropriate levels of post-operative critical care for higher risk patients.In respect of fluid management during surgery, the report's executive summarystates: "Accurate fluid intervention, through the use of monitors measuring blood flowduring surgery, reduces by more than half both the number and severity ofpost-operative complications. Patients on average leave hospital three dayssooner, reducing average lengths of stay by 20%." Four of the eight case studies in the report, from NHS hospitals in Gillingham,Worthing, Newcastle and Paisley, highlight the benefits of using the CardioQTMfor accurate fluid intervention during surgery. A fifth case study is fromUniversity College London Hospital (UCLH), which in March this year UCLHannounced that it was implementing the CardioQ as a standard of care for almostall higher risk surgical patients: the CardioQ has been a standard of care inUCLH's intensive care unit for more than 10 years. ISOG is an independent group of UK surgeons, anaesthetists and intensive carespecialists. In 2005 ISOG published a document, "Modernising Care for PatientsUndergoing Major Surgery: Improving Patient Outcomes and Increasing ClinicalEfficiency" setting out the evidence base supporting the clinical and economiccases for improving NHS standard care before, during and after surgery. BothISOG reports are available to download at www.reducinglengthofstay.org/isog.html Deltex Medical's Chief Executive, Andy Hill commented: "This report by an independent leading group of clinicians increases further thepressure on the NHS to implement the CardioQ as a standard of care duringsurgery. ISOG have stated clearly the benefits of being able to measure bloodflow accurately during surgery: reducing post-operative complications by morethan half and reducing patients' lengths of stay by three days. "Oesophageal Doppler monitoring is the only haemodynamic monitoring technologywhich directly measures blood flows and is also the only technology to detectchanges in blood flows either rapidly or accurately. Deltex Medical is the worldleader in oesophageal Doppler monitoring." For further information, please contact:- Deltex Medical Group plc 01243 774 837Nigel Keen, Chairman njk@deltexmedical.comAndy Hill, Chief Executive ahill@deltexmedical.comEwan Phillips, Finance Director eap@deltexmedical.com Gavin Anderson & Company 020 7554 1400Deborah Walter dwalter@gavinanderson.co.ukRobert Speed rspeed@gavinanderson.co.uk Charles Stanley Securities 020 7149 6457Philip Davies philip.davies@csysecurities.comRussell Cook russell.cook@csysecurities.com Notes for Editors Deltex Medical manufactures and markets the CardioQ monitor, which usesdisposable ultra-sound probes inserted into the oesophagus to determine theamount of blood being pumped around the body - 'circulating blood volume'.Reduced circulating blood volume is known as hypovolaemia, which leads toinsufficient oxygen being delivered to the organs. This causes medicalcomplications including peripheral and major organ failure which can lead todeath. Hypovolaemia, which is akin to severe dehydration, affects virtuallyevery patient having surgery because of the combined effects of pre-operativestarvation, the impact of the anaesthetic agents and trauma from the surgeryitself. Using fluids and drugs, guided by the CardioQ, to optimise the amount ofcirculating blood significantly reduces post-operative complications allowingpatients to make a faster, more complete recovery and return home earlier. The CardioQ incorporates the Company's proprietary software and a smalldiameter, easy-to-use, minimally invasive, disposable oesophageal probe that isused for transmitting and receiving an ultra-sound signal. By using thistechnology, the CardioQ provides clinicians with the ability to haemodynamicallyoptimise critically ill patients and those undergoing routine moderate to majorsurgery through the controlled administration of fluid and drugs. Haemodynamicoptimisation has been scientifically proven to improve the speed and quality ofpatient recovery and reduce hospital stay. There are already over 1,250 CardioQs currently in use in hospitals worldwideand distribution arrangements are in place in over 30 countries. In addition,there are currently more than 90 clinical publications on the use of the CardioQwhich have repeatedly:- •Validated the results of the Monitor against known standards for measuring cardiac output, demonstrating that the technology works •Proved that the CardioQ works in a wide range of surgical procedures •Demonstrated that the Company's technology provides significant health and economic benefits by helping to reduce post-operative complications and length of hospital stays by an average of 30 to 40 per cent for a wide range of patients. The SupraQ is an entirely non-invasive device which uses an ultrasound probeheld at the base of the patient's neck to track the flow of blood in the aorta;it presents the same data as the CardioQ in a similar format and is used fortaking snapshots or monitoring over short periods. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange