WALTHAM, Mass., Sept. 19, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BG Medicine, Inc. (BGMD), a commercial stage company that is focused on the development and delivery of diagnostic solutions to aid in the clinical management of heart failure and related disorders announced today a series of events related to galectin-3 and heart failure during the 17th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) taking place on September 22nd-25th, 2013 in Orlando, Florida.

On Sunday, September 22nd, immediately following the opening session, BG Medicine will co-sponsor an Early Career Professionals Reception with Boston Scientific Corporation. This event provides a rare opportunity for early career professionals to meet mentors and talk with some of the most respected heart failure specialists in America.

Galectin-3 will be featured in several oral presentations at the meeting including one entitled, "Novel Biomarkers for Heart Failure -- Eventual Targets for Therapy" on Monday, September 23rd at 4:00pm Eastern Time. Christopher deFilippi, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland will discuss Galectin-3 and the prognosis in heart failure during this presentation.

On Tuesday, September 24th, there will be a Galectin-3 presentation by Alan Maisel, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Coronary Care Unit at the University of California San Diego and Michael Zile, MD, Principal Investigator at the Gazes Cardiac Research Institute and Professor of Medicine at Medical University in Charleston, South Carolina. The title of the program is "Development, progression and hospitalization for heart failure: targeting fibrosis" and will take place at 12:45pm Eastern Time in The Peabody Hotel Exhibit Hall. This program will address the role of Galectin-3, a marker implicated in cardiac fibrosis, in the development of heart failure (HF) and how to use a biomarker guided approach to identify patients at high risk for near term hospitalization and mortality.

About Galectin-3 Testing and Heart Failure

Galectin-3 has been implicated in a variety of biological processes important in the development and progression of heart failure. Higher levels of galectin-3 are associated with a more aggressive form of heart failure, which may make identification of high-risk patients using galectin-3 testing an important part of patient care. Galectin-3 testing may be useful in helping physicians determine which patients are at higher risk of death or hospitalization, including 30-day readmission. The BGM Galectin-3(R) blood test is to be used as an aid in assessing the prognosis of patients with chronic heart failure, in conjunction with clinical evaluation. For more information visit http://www.galectin-3.com

About BG Medicine, Inc.

BG Medicine, Inc. (BGMD) is a commercial stage company that is focused on the development and delivery of diagnostic solutions to aid in the clinical management of heart failure and related disorders. For additional information about BG Medicine, heart failure and galectin-3 testing, please visit http://www.BG-medicine.com. The BG Medicine Inc. logo is available for download here

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BG Medicine, Inc. Announces Schedule of Events Related to Galectin-3 at the 17th Annual Scientific Meeting of the ...