Lantheus Medical Imaging said that a new study in the American Journal of Cardiology found a survival benefit among hospitalized patients undergoing echocardiography procedures enhanced by its Definity contrast agent.
The retrospective, multicenter cohort study of more than 4 million hospitalized patients found similar unadjusted mortality rates for patients receiving Definity-enhanced resting echocardiography exams compared with patients who did not receive Definity, according to the North Billerica, MA-based firm.
While patients receiving Definity were sicker on average and had a higher baseline mortality risk prior to the exam following Definity administration, these patients exhibited a reduced risk of mortality over 24 hours compared with patients who received only echocardiography without the ultrasound contrast agent, Lantheus said.
The study, published in the December issue of the journal, was designed to assess one-day mortality in hospitalized patients undergoing resting transthoracic echocardiography both with and without Definity. It included more than 4 million patients from January 1, 2002, through October 31, 2007, using the Premier Perspective database.
Of the 4.3 million patients, 4,242,712 patients received nonenhanced echocardiograms and 58,254 received Definity-enhanced studies. One-day mortality rates were 1.08% for patients receiving nonenhanced studies and 1.06% for patients receiving Definity-enhanced exams, Lantheus said.
The researchers employed multivariate logistic regression analysis to compare 24-hour mortality, controlling for case mix and clinical covariates. From that analysis, the study team found that patients undergoing Definity-enhanced echocardiograms had a 24% lower risk-adjusted odds ratio for mortality within one day than patients who received only nonenhanced echocardiography, Lantheus said.
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