Daxor Corporation Secures Funding for Blood Volume Analyzer Study

New York, N.Y.-based medical instrumentation and biotechnology company Daxor Corporation is funding of a major study for treating heart failure. The principal investigator for the study is Wayne Miller, M.D., Ph.D., who previously conducted a study on heart failure patients recently published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology-Heart Failure. He is a faculty member at the Mayo Clinic based in Rochester, Minn.

The goal of the new study is to determine whether using a blood volume analyzer to objectively quantify the patient’s blood volume status can result in more appropriate treatment and reduce the need for re-hospitalization. Blood volume measurement is a non-invasive test that can be performed in less than one hour and requires approximately one ounce of blood. A potential benefit the test that can be administered on an outpatient basis is to permit adjustment of cardio vascular drugs to restore the patient’s blood volume to a normal level. Previous published studies from the Columbia University School of Medicine have documented that the achievement of normal blood volume in heart failure patients leads to a significantly reduced death rate.

Fluid accumulation and blood volume expansion is one of the earliest changes in heart failure, and a typical mode of treatment are powerful diuretics. The over-treatment of patients who do not have a blood volume expansion may result in a diminished blood volume and the precipitation of kidney failure. Some patients have unrecognized bleeding from the use of anti-coagulants. The majority of heart failure patients are treated without accurate knowledge of the patient’s blood volume.

The company has recently received inquiries from representatives of West African nations regarding the use of the Daxor BVA-100 blood volume analyzer in the treatment of Ebola patients. Ebola, which is known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a viral sepsis that causes damage to the red blood cells and capillaries. The patients with damaged capillaries experience a severe form of internal bleeding. If the patient’s circulation can be restored to relatively normal levels, the patient may survive and produce antibodies to help fight the virus. It is noteworthy that eight of the ten Ebola patients in the United States who survived were treated with plasma containing Ebola antibodies. The plasma was an important part of restoring their blood volume back to normal levels. Quantification of the blood volume derangement and deficits would permit more precise resuscitation efforts in patients affected with Ebola. In addition to blood transfusions, there are other blood components that can be used to restore blood volume to a normal level.

In a previous study with 100 patients using the blood volume analyzer at The Queen’s Medical Center in Hawaii, there was a markedly lower death rate in patients with sepsis when treated with blood volume measurement to guide treatment. There was a death rate of 8 percent versus 24 percent for patients who were treated using standard invasive procedures such as pulmonary artery catheterization. These findings were published in volume 35.3 of Shock.