IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Alsius Corporation , the worldwide leader in intravascular temperature management (IVTM(TM)) therapies, today announced that four scientific posters featuring both patient cases and laboratory research in which the Thermogard XP(TM) was utilized will be presented this week at the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Annual Meeting, taking place in Orlando.
Dr. Arie Blitz, Director of Heart Transplantation and Assist Device Surgery at University Hospitals of Cleveland Case Medical Center, and President of the Cleveland chapter of the American Heart Association, will present the following posters highlighting the use of the Thermogard XP in challenging cardiac surgery cases:
— Use of a Novel Percutaneous Warming Catheter as a Protection Against Perioperative Hypothermia
— Perioperative Therapeutic Hypothermia for Intraoperative Cardiac Arrest During Cardiac Surgery
— Use of a Warming Catheter To Treat Perioperative Hypothermia in a Patient Undergoing Salvage Off-Pump RVAD Insertion
— Reversal of Stroke by the Early Institution of Therapeutic Hypothermia after Cardiac Surgery
“Patients undergoing cardiac surgery are at risk for developing a variety of perioperative complications, including hypothermia and stroke,” commented Dr. Blitz, senior author of the case studies to be featured at ASA. “Precise control of body temperature plays an important role in treating patients who are at risk for these complications.
“Patients who experience inadvertent hypothermia during surgery are at increased risk for bleeding and other adverse events, and therefore may benefit by being kept warm during the course of the operation,” continued Dr. Blitz. “On the other hand, patients who experience a stroke or other neurological injury during surgery might actually benefit by being cooled down for a period of time after the surgery. Therefore, modulating temperature becomes a very important tool in the physician’s armamentarium. The cases being presented at the ASA underscore the utility of temperature management for these situations.”
Various factors contribute to hypothermia during surgery, including the type of surgical procedure, the type of anesthesia, the temperature of the operating room and the infusion of blood or other cold fluids. A patient’s temperature can drop as much as 1 – 3 degrees F during the first 30 minutes after anesthesia is administered, and sometimes more body heat can be lost during the surgery, which can lead to serious complications including wound infections, blood loss, cardiac arrhythmias and heart damage.
Most methods of patient re-warming are imprecise, fail to warm the patient quickly enough or are not practical due to the type of surgery. The Alsius IVTM system is ideal for these circumstances since it does not interfere with the operating field and will precisely and efficiently regulate the patient’s temperature.
Alsius IVTM(TM)
Alsius IVTM technology provides cooling and warming therapy via a computer-controlled temperature regulation system that connects to Alsius’ proprietary heat exchange catheters. The catheters are inserted into a patient’s subclavian, jugular or femoral vein, and circulate cool or warm saline through balloons that surround the catheter. This approach decreases or increases core temperature from the inside of the body out toward the exterior, allowing for significantly more rapid control of a patient’s core body temperature, with greater efficiency and precision, compared to conventional external temperature management products such as cooling and warming blankets and ice packs.
Alsius’ IVTM products include the CoolGard 3000(R), Thermogard(TM) and Thermogard XP(TM) systems, as well as a family of single-use catheters, including the Cool Line(R), Icy(TM), Quattro(TM), Solex(TM) and Fortius(R) catheters.
About Alsius
Alsius, headquartered in Irvine, CA, is a commercial-stage medical device company that develops, manufactures and sells proprietary products to precisely control patient temperature in hospital critical care settings. Controlling body temperature, through cooling and warming, is becoming the standard of care for patients in select critical conditions and those undergoing a variety of surgical procedures. Alsius markets a comprehensive suite of catheter-based intravascular temperature management products that address the need for effective, accurate, easy-to-use and cost-effective control of body temperature in critical care patients. For more information, visit http://www.alsius.com/.
Safe Harbor
This press release may contain statements regarding plans and expectations for the future that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking. Such forward looking statements, based upon the current beliefs and expectations of Alsius’ management, are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The information set forth herein should be read in light of such risks. Additional information concerning such risks and uncertainties are contained in Alsius’ filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which can be accessed electronically on the Securities and Exchange Commission website at http://www.sec.gov/.
Alsius Corporation
CONTACT: Suzanne Winter of Alsius Corporation, +1-949-453-0150, ext.105, [email protected]; or Julio Cantre of WeissComm Partners,+1-415-946-1055, [email protected], for Alsius Corporation
Web site: http://www.alsius.com/
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