Feb 17 2010
BG Medicine, Inc. announced today that the results of a controlled study
on the utility of its galectin-3 test in heart failure were published in
the Journal Clinical Research in Cardiology, a peer-reviewed,
international journal that publishes original research and review
articles on clinical research studies in the field of cardiology. The
article was recently released and is titled, “Prognostic value of
galectin-3, a novel marker of fibrosis, in patients with chronic heart
failure: data from the DEAL-HF study,” Dirk J. A. Lok, Peter Van Der
Meer, Pieta W. Bruggink-André de la Porte, Erik Lipsic, Jan Van
Wijngaarden, Hans L. Hillege and Dirk J. van Veldhuisen. DOI:
10.1007/s00392-010-0125-y.
“Prognostic value of
galectin-3, a novel marker of fibrosis, in patients with chronic heart
failure: data from the DEAL-HF study”
The study involved 232 patients with a mean age of 71 ± 10 years, of
which 72% were male and who generally had advanced heart failure (96%
were in New York Heart Association Class III). During a follow-up period
of 6.5 years, 98 patients died. Galectin-3 was determined to be a
significant predictor of mortality risk after adjustment for age,
gender, renal dysfunction, as measured by glomerular filtration rate,
and severity of heart failure, as assessed by NT-proBNP (hazard ratio
per standard deviation 1.24, 95% CI 1.03–1.50, P = 0.026).
“This long-term study may provide additional support for the existence
of galectin-3 dependent heart failure, in which galectin-3 plays a role
in heart failure progression”, said Pieter Muntendam MD, President and
CEO of BG Medicine. “Clinical assessment in heart failure previously
focused on judging current status, and we believe the addition of
galectin-3 as a biomarker may allow physicians to identify patients with
this more progressive form of heart failure earlier, so that treatment
decisions may be individualized.”
The BGM Galectin-3 test is currently available for clinical use only in
the European Union and certain other European countries as an aid in the
stratification of patients diagnosed with heart failure. The BGM
Galectin-3 test is not available for sale or distribution in the United
States or Canada. The Company has submitted a 510(k) application to
obtain clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell the
test in the United States.
Source BG Medicine
Common heart failure drug reduces risk of chemotherapy-induced heart damage in cancer patients