SINGAPORE
- A first-of-its-kind study in the
region will see investigators across 10 countries working together to
understand the patterns of survival and death among Asian patients with heart
failure.
The
five-year study will gather and analyse data on sudden cardiac death in heart
failure, with the long-term goal of improving the survival of Asian patients
with heart failure.
Funded
with a S$5.5-million grant by medical devices company Boston Scientific, the
study will focus specifically on 5,000 patients aged 18 and above across the
Asia-Pacific region.
The 10
countries involved are: Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Korea, China,
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, India and Japan. In Singapore, six
medical centres will participate in the study.
The
findings of this study could help doctors better understand the causes of death
among Asian patients with heart failure, and determine if such deaths may be
prevented with the implantation of cardiac defibrillators.
Studies
within the Western populations have shown that sudden cardiac death accounts
for 50 per cent of deaths in heart failure and that sudden cardiac death is
preventable in some patients by implanting a cardiac defibrillator.
In
Asia, however, there is a lack of knowledge of the epidemiology of sudden
cardiac death and ignorance regarding the risk of sudden death associated with
heart failure.
Associate
Professor Carolyn Lam of the National University Heart Centre of Singapore, who
leads the study, said there is "an urgent need to fill the knowledge gaps
regarding the mortality burden of this disease" and "understand the
barriers that prevent quick and easy access to potentially life-saving
devices".
The
World Health Organization has projected that Asia has the largest increase in
cardiovascular disease due to the increasing rates of smoking, obesity,
dyslipidemia and diabetes among Asians.
A local
study on congestive heart failure among elderly patients, conducted between
1991 to 1998, showed that heart failure admission rose by more than 40 per cent
over the last decade, making it the most common cardiac cause of
hospitalisation. It also found that the five-year survival rate in patients
with heart failure is 32 per cent.
Amanda
Lee
todayonline.com
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