SPDE Speedus Corp (CE)

Zargis Medical Announces the Results of a Clinical Study in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) PRINCETON, N.J., Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Researchers at Zargis Medical Corp., a majority-owned subsidiary of Speedus Corp. (NASDAQ:SPDE), announced today the results of a clinical study that demonstrated that a computer-assisted heart sounds analysis algorithm could identify those patients flagged by a cardiologist as having apical systolic murmurs that were louder on standing than reclining, a cardinal sign of obstructive HCM. HCM is implicated in one third of the cases of sudden cardiac death in young athletes. The full report of this study will appear in the forthcoming volume of the Texas Heart Institute Journal. The study involved twelve volunteer subjects who had been previously diagnosed with HCM, of which four reported obstructive HCM. Twenty-second recordings were obtained at each of four standard auscultatory locations in two postures: standing and reclining. Detailed auscultatory findings were derived by listening to the heart sound recordings by a cardiologist who was blinded to the study design. The recordings were analyzed by a computer algorithm that detects and identifies heart sounds and murmurs, and provides quantitative measures of the heart sounds. The algorithm results were compared with the auscultatory findings provided by the cardiologist. A high degree of concordance between the cardiologists' auscultatory findings and computer analyses was obtained. The systolic energy was found to correlate well with judgments of the relative loudness of murmurs in different postures. Those three subjects which were flagged by the cardiologist as having apical systolic murmurs that were louder on standing, were identified by the algorithm as having apical systolic murmurs with higher systolic energies in the standing posture. These results demonstrate that there are detectable acoustic features of heart sound recordings that are associated with auscultatory findings of obstructive HCM. According to Managing Director John Kallassy, "There is a clear and immediate need for a cost effective screening method that could help to identify young athletes at risk of sudden cardiac death due to HCM. This result holds promise of developing a cost-effective and readily available test for screening young athletes." About Zargis Medical Corp. Zargis Medical Corp. was formed in January 2001 when Siemens Corporate Research Inc., a subsidiary of Siemens AG (NYSE:SI), and Speedus Corp. (NASDAQ:SPDE) co-invested in Zargis to further develop and commercially market an advanced acoustic technology for detecting abnormalities identified through analysis of heart sounds. Based in Princeton, New Jersey, Zargis is developing advanced diagnostic decision support products and services for primary care physicians, cardiologists and other healthcare professionals. For additional information on Speedus Corp. or Zargis Medical, contact John Kallassy, 718.567.4358, , or visit their websites at http://www.speedus.com/ and http://www.zargis.com/. For additional information on Siemens Corporate Research, visit their website at http://www.scr.siemens.com/. Statements contained herein that are not historical facts, including but not limited to statements about the Company's product, corporate identity and focus, may be forward-looking statements that are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward- looking statements made by the Company, including, but not limited to, the continuing development of the Company's sales, marketing and support efforts. DATASOURCE: Zargis Medical Corp. CONTACT: John Kallassy of Speedus Corp., +1-718-567-4358, or Web site: http://www.zargis.com/ http://www.speedus.com/ http://www.scr.siemens.com/

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