ACC/AHA 2005 Guideline Update for the Diagnosis and Management of Chronic Heart Failure in the Adult Cites the Use of Plasma Volume Determination.

NEW YORK -- Daxor Corporation (AMEX:DXR), a medical instrumentation and biotechnology company, today announced that the American College of Cardiology (ACC) & the American Heart Association (AHA) 2005 guidelines for the diagnosis and management of chronic heart failure in the adult cites the use of plasma volume determination.

"Recognition by the Writing Committee members of the ACC/AHA Task Force on Practice Guidelines of study data associated with Daxor's BVA-100 is a critical first step in our technology becoming a standard of care in the treatment of heart failure," commented John Reyes-Guerra, Daxor's Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

The updated guidelines, which were approved as of August, 2005 by the ACC Foundation Board of Trustees and by the AHA Science Advisory and Coordinating Committee, advises within section 3.2.2 - Initial and Serial Clinical Assessment of Patients Presenting with Heart Failure - Assessment of Volume Status, that: "It is critically important for healthcare providers to evaluate the fluid or volume status of patients with heart failure during the initial visit and each follow-up examination. This assessment plays a pivotal role in determining the need for diuretic therapy and in detecting sodium excesses or deficiencies that may limit efficacy and decrease the tolerability of drugs used to treat heart failure." The guidelines continue by citing various physical signs and symptoms that should be followed to assess a patient's volume status. The guidelines continue to say that, "Indeed, many patients with chronic HF have elevated intravascular volume in the absence of peripheral edema or rales. Studies using I-131 tagged albumin have demonstrated plasma volume expansion in more than 50% of patients in whom clinical volume overload was not recognized." Daxor's Blood Volume Analyzer BVA-100 instrument and Volumex Albumin I-131 were utilized to conduct the referenced study.

Another study, Hemodilution Is Common In Patients With Advance Heart Failure, was published in January, 2003 in Circulation, a leading cardiology medical journal. The study from Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center states, "This study was the first study to examine the prevalence of hemodilution in heart failure patients and its impact on clinical outcome. The study demonstrated that hemodilution is common and that clinical outcomes in these patients tended to be worse than in CHF patients with true anemia."

Dr. Joseph Feldschuh, senior scientist of Daxor, noted that "Hemodilution means a patient's intravascular blood volume is diluted with extra plasma. Hemodilution often occurs in heart failure patients. However, it is extremely difficult to differentiate a patient who is hemodiluted from a patient with true anemia. Patients with true anemia or with decreased red cell volume can be treated with medication such as epo, which have resulted in partial reversal of their heart failure symptoms. A blood volume analysis (BVA) provides a physician with an accurate diagnosis regarding a patient's volume status. With a BVA a physician can accurately distinguish and treat a patient who is hemodiluted versus anemic."

A May, 2004 study published in the American Journal of Cardiology, Unrecognized Hypervolemia in CHF and Patient Outcomes, Androne, A., Katz, S., et al, utilized Daxor's BVA-100 Blood Volume Analyzer and was the first study of its kind to compare clinical assessment of congestive signs such as increased jugular venous pressure, rales, hepatomegaly, S3 gallop, blood pressure, with a measured blood volume. The results of this study verified that, "Clinical assessment and measured blood volume analysis were correct in only 22 of 43 patients (51%)." In 49%, the treating physicians were incorrect in their clinical evaluation of the patients' blood volume status. In addition, this study reported the survival outcomes of patients. Patients with heart failure that were treated to a normal intravascular volume had a 100% survival rate over a two year period versus a 55% death rate/urgent transplantation of patients who remained volume overloaded.

According to the updated ACC/AHA guidelines, heart failure (HF) is a major and growing public health problem which affects 5 million patients with 550,000 patients being diagnosed with heart failure for the first time each year. HF is the primary reason for 12 to 15 million office visits and 6.5 million hospital days each year. In addition, the number of HF deaths has increased steadily despite advances in treatment.

The BVA-100, which measures whole blood volume, red cell volume, and plasma volume, is used in conjunction with Volumex, a single use diagnostic kit. Among nationally renowned hospitals which have purchased the BVA-100 Blood Volume Analyzer are The Mayo Clinic, The Cleveland Clinic and New York University Medical Center. The BVA-100 measures blood volume to within a 98% accuracy. More information about the BVA-100 and other Daxor products and services can be found at www.daxor.com.