Cardima Announces Receipt of CE Mark for NAVIPORT Deflectable Tip Guiding Catheter.

FREMONT, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--March 4, 1999--Cardima, Inc. (Nasdaq:CRDM) today announced that it has received CE mark approval to begin selling Cardima's proprietary NAVIPORT(TM) deflectable tip guiding catheter. The patented NAVIPORT is the only deflectable tip guiding catheter with an open lumen or tube, designed for delivery of diagnostic or therapeutic microcatheters into the chambers and/or the coronary vasculature of the heart. The ergonomic control knob offers physicians precise, controlled steering with appropriate curvature while maintaining the selected curve shape. The NAVIPORT may lead to shorter electrophysiology procedure times through faster catheter placement, as was demonstrated during Cardima's European atrial fibrillation (AF) clinical trials.

The NAVIPORT deflectable tip guiding catheter is the latest addition to Cardima's portfolio of guiding catheters and includes various curvatures which are designed to accommodate variations in patient anatomy similar to Cardima's VENAPORT(TM) and VUEPORT(R) families of fixed-shaped guiding catheters.

The NAVIPORT approval, in conjunction with the CE marked REVELATION(TM) and REVELATION(TM) Tx therapeutic microcatheters, strengthens Cardima's microcatheter system for treatment of atrial fibrillation in the European Union.

"The introduction of the NAVIPORT deflectable tip guiding catheter for guiding therapeutic microcatheters, such as the REVELATION and REVELATION Tx available in Europe, the Cardima PATHFINDER(TM) series used for mapping ventricular tachycardia (VT) in the United States, Europe and Japan, and the REVELATION for mapping AF available in the United States, Europe and Japan, continues to strengthen Cardima's position in the electrophysiology market," said Phillip Radlick, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Cardima. "The name of the game in effectively treating fast heart beats is access, and the NAVIPORT guiding catheter makes access easier and potentially reduces procedure times for the placement of our microcatheters. The NAVIPORT paves the way for the introduction of our other advanced and innovative systems for the diagnosis and eventual treatment of AF and VT, two of the largest unmet clinical needs in cardiovascular medicine."

Cardima, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures and markets minimally invasive, single-use microcatheter-based systems for the dual purpose of finding and treating the two most common forms of cardiac arrhythmias: atrial fibrillation, a condition of the heart characterized by the irregular and very rapid beating of the heart's atrial chambers, and ventricular tachycardia, a life-threatening condition in which heartbeats are improperly initiated from within the ventricular walls, bypassing the heart's normal conduction system. Cardima is the only company developing unique microcatheter systems to be used in both diagnosing and treating AF and VT. For further information about atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia, contact Cardima's website at www.cardima.com.