Co-marketing agreement with McKesson offers more hospitals access to the market’s only wireless FFR system

St. Jude Medical, Inc. announced its wireless PressureWire™ Aeris technology, which aids in the diagnosis and treatment of coronary artery blockages by measuring fractional flow reserve (FFR), will now be available to hospitals using the McKesson Horizon Cardiology Hemo™ solution. Through this agreement with McKesson, physicians will have greater access to a wireless FFR measurement system.

The PressureWire Aeris is a wireless FFR measurement system which requires no additional equipment or cabling in the cardiac catheterization laboratory. The elimination of additional equipment and cabling has the potential to simplify set-up and increase procedural efficiencies.

The PressureWire Aeris wireless technology works by integrating physiological lesion assessment directly into the hemodynamic recording system already available in the cath lab to immediately display, measure and save FFR data. This integration is an optional module for hospitals using McKesson’s Horizon Cardiology Hemo system version 12.1. The McKesson Horizon Cardiology Hemo system was designed to improve the overall workflow of the entire catheterization suite. A single interface in the Horizon Cardiology Hemo system combines both the FFR measurement controls and clinical documentation including lesion, stage and medication. This unique integration between the PressureWire Aeris wireless technology and the Hemo system v 12.1 provides availability of this important clinical data in the physician report and registry submission modules.

Two-year follow-up data from the landmark FAME (Fractional flow reserve (FFR) vs. Angiography in Multivessel Evaluation) trial compared FFR-guided treatment using a St. Jude Medical PressureWire to treatment using standard angiography alone, and found both superior clinical outcomes and reduced healthcare costs in patients whose treatment was based on FFR. The combined risk of death or myocardial infarction was 34% lower for patients whose treatment was guided by PressureWire technology prior to coronary stenting.

FFR-guided treatment using the St. Jude Medical PressureWire System was also found by the FAME trial to be cost-saving, with a difference of about $2,000, or 14%, in healthcare costs to the hospital between the two patient groups after one year. These lower healthcare costs were a result of reduced procedural costs, reduced follow-up costs for major adverse cardiac events and shorter hospital stays.

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