University of Hawaii and The Queen's Medical Center Reports on a Study on Critically Ill Patients Utilizing Blood Volume Measurement and Pulmonary Artery Catheterization

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Mar 9, 2016) - Daxor Corporation, (NYSE MKT: DXR) an investment company with medical instrumentation and biotechnology operations, announces a study on critically ill patients utilizing blood volume measurement and pulmonary artery catheterization (PAC).

Pulmonary artery catheterization, an invasive procedure, involves threading a catheter into the heart to measure pressures. Millions of clinically ill patients have undergone the procedure over the past 30 years. These measurements have been used as a proxy for direct blood volume measurement. A limited number of reports have demonstrated that these pressures do not correlate closely with actual volume measurements. 

The Queen's Medical Center presented a study at the recently concluded Critical Care Congress. The senior authors Timothy Perkins, Mihae Yu, et al., conducted a study involving 96 patients. The death rate in this group was 18%. Included among the patients were patients with septic shock, cardiovascular collapse, and respiratory failure. A common assumption of physicians using PAC is that patients with low pulmonary artery occlusion pressure (PAOP) had low blood volume. The study, however, showed that 25% of the patients with low PAOP pressure were, in fact, hypervolemic (increased blood volume). Another common assumption of users of the pulmonary catheter is that patients with high pulmonary artery pressures were hypervolemic. The study, however, showed that 18% of these patients were, in fact, hypovolemic (low blood volume). 

This study confirms previous findings that pulmonary artery pressure, when used for estimates of blood volume, can be significantly misleading in critically ill patients. Patients who have septic shock are particularly vulnerable if they do not receive optimal therapy quickly. This study demonstrated an 18% death rate. A previous study on a different group of patients from this institution demonstrated that when blood volume measurement was used to guide therapy on critically ill patients, a death rate of 8% was achieved vs. the death rate of 24% when only pulmonary artery catheterization pressures without blood volume measurement was used for management. Critically ill patients who survive the intensive care unit experience frequently have permanent brain damage and kidney damage from complications during their treatment. 

Dr. Feldschuh, President and Chief Scientist for Daxor, noted that "Blood volume measurement provides the key missing information in managing critically ill patients on a timely basis. The combination of 18% erroneous measurement of hypovolemic patients and 25% for hypervolemic patients is 43% and a measure of the severity of inaccuracy of pulmonary artery pressures without the use of a blood volume measurement." The full study from the Queen's Medical Center can be accessed at Perkin T, et al. Pulmonary artery occlusion pressure is a poor predictor of circulating blood volume. SCCM Critical Care Congress 2016, abstract 0119, poster presentation on February 23, 2016.

Daxor Corporation manufactures and markets the BVA-100 Blood Volume Analyzer, which is used in conjunction with Volumex, Daxor's single use diagnostic kit. For more information regarding Daxor Corporation's Blood Volume Analyzer BVA-100, visit Daxor's website at www.Daxor.com.