MARKET FOR HEART DEVICES MAY GET A BOOST

ST. JUDE MEDICAL AND OTHER MAKERS OF IMPLANTS that regulate patients' heartbeats could get a lift from a study that confirms the effectiveness of two different methods of testing the need for implants.

A St. Jude-funded study compared two types of diagnostics tests for predicting the risk of sudden heart death and for gauging whether a patient needs one of the implants, known as defibrillators. The study was announced at the annual American Heart Association conference. According to Dr. David Rosenbaum of the MetroHealth Heart and Vascular Center in Ohio, the study showed that St. Jude's diagnostic test, where wire electrodes are placed in the heart, has the same effectiveness as a cheaper and less invasive computerized test made by Cambridge Heart. Cardiologists believe that this test could boost the use of implantable defibrillators, which are manufactured by market leader Medtronic, Inc., as well as St. Jude and Boston Scientific.

"It (the study) would increase the use of ICDs in patients who need them but aren't getting them," says Dr. Douglas Zipes, former president of the American College of Cardiology.

David Zimbalist, analyst from Natexis Bleichroeder, wrote that if the study results in the increased use of the computerized test, then it could boost referrals for at-risk patients to receive implantable defibrillators. The market for ICDs could grow 6% to 8% by the second half of 2007.