Dec 16, 1999
MUSTT Trial Results Show Certain Heart Attack Victims To be at Risk for Sudden Cardiac Death

Indianapolis, IN - Guidant Corporation (NYSE and PCX: GDT), a worldwide leader in cardiac rhythm management systems, today reiterated its support of the Multicenter Unsustained Tachycardia Trial (MUSTT). The results of the MUSTT trial, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed a 74 percent reduction in sudden cardiac death for certain patients with coronary heart disease who received an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). ICDs are sophisticated devices that are designed to correct life-threatening heart rhythms.

"The MUSTT results, which so significantly favor implantable defibrillator therapy, offer new treatment choices to patients with coronary artery disease, which could save thousands of additional lives with proper diagnosis and treatment," noted Jay Graf, president of Guidant''s Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM) Group. "It is our hope that those patients will contact their heart specialists to determine their risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD). We congratulate the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the MUSTT investigators for this important contribution to the treatment of patients with heart rhythm disorders."

When the results were first presented at the North American Society for Electrophysiology (NASPE) in Toronto in May, Guidant offered to provide implantable defibrillator devices free of charge to physicians for their patients who were randomized to the drug arms of the study. "Because the MUSTT results so significantly favor implantable defibrillator therapy, we want to ensure that patients who were randomized to non-defibrillator arms of the study have the option to receive this therapy," noted Graf. In addition, Guidant provided a grant of $200,000 to the MUSTT investigators to complete activities associated with the trial.

Guidant''s implantable defibrillator systems were used in the MUSTT trial since its start in 1990. MUSTT, an NIH-sponsored trial, enrolled 2,200 patients who were believed to be at risk for sudden cardiac death based on their cardiac history. MUSTT results revealed a 27 percent reduction in mortality for patients undergoing electrophysiologic testing (a special heart rhythm test) to determine their treatment course. For patients who received an ICD, mortality was reduced by 74 percent compared to patients treated with antiarrhythmic drugs.

A global leader in the medical device industry, Guidant Corporation provides innovative, minimally invasive and cost-effective products and services for the treatment of cardiovascular and vascular disease. For more information on Guidant''s products and services, visit the company''s web site at http://www.guidant.com.