Twice as many British stroke patients received a correct diagnosis with Zenicor-ECG

Stockholm June 30, 2016

In a recently completed project at Queen Alexandra hospital in Portsmouth twice as many stroke patients received the correct Atrial Fibrillation diagnosis with Zenicor-ECG compared to current standard of care. The aim of the project was to develop and improve the diagnosis of Atrial Fibrillation for stroke patients in Portsmouth and to prevent recurrent strokes. The study was presented at the European Stroke Organisation Conference in Venice.

Zenicor thumb-ECG has been used at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth by 70 stroke patients during six months. The patients were investigated with Zenicor thumb-ECG for 3 weeks in combination with continuous 24 hours Holter ECG. With Zenicor thumb-ECG 14 % of the patients were diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation, but only 7 % were detected with the Holter ECG.

The results are consistent with previous research from Sweden, where 7-11 % Atrial Fibrillation has been diagnosed with Zenicor ECG and 1.5-4 % with Holter-ECG.

Dr Ugnius Sukys, stroke consultant at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth and the project lead for the study says: ”We could repeat the results from the Swedish studies and the investigation with Zenicor thumb-ECG even proved to be more effective in the Portsmouth population of stroke patients. We detected Atrial Fibrillation in a number of patients who would have been missed otherwise and could therefor provide a better treatment for our stroke patients”.

Mats Palerius, CEO for Zenicor: ”We are very pleased that the project in Portsmouth confirms previous results from Swedish stroke clinics and it also proves that the investigation can be even more effective in a British stroke population. The UK is a very important market in Atrial Fibrillation screening and often serves as a bridge to other English-speaking markets. We now look forward to continuing our work with" Spotting AF – Stopping Stroke" in the United Kingdom and worldwide."

About Zenicor and thumb-ECG from Zenicor

The Swedish Medical Technology company Zenicor is a leader in arrhythmia diagnosis and stroke prevention. Zenicor thumb-ECG is a system for diagnosis of Atrial Fibrillation and other cardiac arrhythmias and is currently used in over 300 clinics in the Nordic countries, Germany and the UK. The Zenicor solution consists of a handheld device (Zenicor thumb-ECG) where the patients can register short episodes of their own ECG spread out during a long time period. The ECGs are then automatically sent over the mobile network to a central database. Via internet connection the caregiver has access to the patient's ECGs at any time and can make a diagnosis easily and quickly. Efficiency of the system has been documented in numerous studies and articles in leading international scientific journals. These studies have shown that Zenicor thumb-ECG, in combination with cost-effectiveness and ease of use, has a superior diagnostic capability compared to traditional methods.

About Atrial Fibrillation and Stroke in the United Kingdom

• 152,000 British citizens suffer a stroke every year
• >1 million patients have diagnosed Atrial Fibrillation
• 80 people every day suffer a stroke due to known Atrial Fibrillation
• About 30 % of all Atrial Fibrillations are undiagnosed
• There are 183 stroke units in the United Kingdom
• Annually 9 billion pound is spent on stroke care

For more information

Mats Palerius, CEO, Zenicor Medical Systems AB, mats@zenicor.com , phone: +46 70 561 55 64

High resolution images of Zenicor-ECG available for download: http://zenicor.com/pressmaterial

Link to Portsmouth report:

http://zenicor.se/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Portsmouth-projekt.pdf