Study Supports Use Of MTWA Test As Predictor Of Sudden Cardiac Death

Main Category: Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Also Included In: Heart Disease
Article Date: 19 Nov 2009 - 6:00 PDT

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Cambridge Heart, Inc. (OTCBB-CAMH), announced that results of the PREVENT-SCD trial, presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Florida, reinforce the value of the Microvolt T-wave Alternans (MTWA) test in identifying patients at risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD).

PREVENT-SCD (PRospective EValuation of VENtricular Tachyarrhythmic Events and Sudden Cardiac Death in Patients with Left Ventricular Dysfunction), a prospective multi-center study of patients with cardiomyopathy and ejection fraction of 40% or lower, enrolled a total of 453 patients from 38 institutions in Japan. Two hundred eighty (280) patients underwent non-invasive MTWA testing using the analytic spectral method and were followed for up to three years.

At a median follow-up time of 36 months, patients with an abnormal MTWA test were 4.4 times more likely to experience a life-threatening arrhythmia or SCD than those with a normal test. The 3-year negative predictive value was reported to be 97.0%, indicating that patients with a normal or negative MTWA test are at low risk for experiencing sudden death.

"MTWA has a very high negative predictive value for lethal arrhythmias in this population," said Dr. Satoshi Shizuta, Kyoto University Hospital, Kyoto, Japan, lead author of the study. In PREVENT-SCD, 29% of patients eligible for the test had a negative MTWA result. He noted that these patients are at very low risk for SCD in the next three years.

"The PREVENT-SCD trial further confirms the results of several previously published studies of MTWA in patients with left ventricular dysfunction," said Dr. Ali Haghighi-Mood, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cambridge Heart, Inc. "The value of MTWA as an accurate predictor of sudden cardiac arrest in this population has become very well established."

Source
Cambridge Heart, Inc.

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