T-Wave Test Aids Evaluation of Heart Patients

A study has shown that a T-wave alternans test is the most-effective noninvasive way to identify congestive heart failure (CHF) patients at risk for developing abnormal heart rhythms or sudden cardiac death. The study was reported in the August 19 issue of The Lancet.

Researchers followed 107 CHF patients with no prior history of sustained ventricular arrhythmias for 18 months. Microvolt level T-wave alternans was measured noninvasively in these patients using the CH 2000 system of Cambridge Heart, Inc. (Bedford, MA, USA;) during a standard stress test. Six other clinical measures traditionally used were also obtained for the 107 patients. Of all seven tests, microvolt T-wave alternans was the only statistically significant predictor of sudden death. Among those patients with a positive T-wave alternans test, the rate of sudden death or resuscitated life-threatening arrhythmia was 21% at 18 months following the test.

The Cambridge Heart Microvolt Alternans Test measures extremely subtle beat-to-beat fluctuations in a person's heartbeat, which are detected by using Alternans Sensors while the heart rate is elevated by exercise, pharmacologic agents, or pacing. Cambridge Heart's Alternans Test is the only noninvasive test cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to identify patients at risk for sudden cardiac death.

This study demonstrates that microvolt T-wave alternans can play an important role in identifying which CHF patients will benefit from preventive therapy and which are not in need of expensive and potentially invasive therapies, said Richard Cohen, Ph.D., chairman of the Cambridge Heart Scientific Advisory Board


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Cambridge Heart Inc.