Daxor Reports Results Of Blood Volume Analyzer Used In 5 Major Research Studies

Daxor has presented five major research reports derived from studies using the Daxor Blood Volume Analyzer (BVA-100) at the annual Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) conference in Miami, FL.

The BVA-100 enables measurement of whole blood volume, including plasma volume and red blood cell volume. It also permits measurement of the rate of transudation of albumin across the capillaries.

The company claims that two of the studies are focused on the rate of loss of albumin from the intravascular system, which is slow in normal individuals. One of the studies, entitled ‘Activated Protein C (APC) and Corticosteroids Decrease the Rate of Albumin Transudation in Septic Shock’ examined whether APC and corticosteroids may affect capillary permeability in 75 patients with severe sepsis/septic shock.

The results show that either corticosteroids alone or APC and corticosteroids together significantly decreased elevated transudation rates. A lower mortality rate was observed in the group receiving corticosteroids alone relative to the APC and corticosteroid combination group.

Although the corticosteroid hydrocortisone stabilizes capillary transudation in septic shock, this study is the first involving direct blood volume measurement and albumin capillary loss to actually demonstrate this, said the company.

Another study, entitled ‘Elevated Transcapillary Albumin Escape: A Marker of Increased Mortality’ examined the relationship between albumin leak rate and mortality in 100 patients requiring radial or pulmonary artery catheter for acute resuscitation of severe sepsis, septic shock, cardiogenic shock and/or Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Patients with a normal albumin leak rate 5-7 days after resuscitation showed markedly lower mortality (7.8%) than patients with elevated albumin leak rate (27.9%). This study confirms that transcapillary albumin escape is, in fact, a marker for increased mortality. This opens up the possibility of using this measurement to evaluate the efficacy of different therapies in reducing capillary albumin leak.