WALTHAM, Mass., June 12, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BG Medicine, Inc. (BGMD) announced today that galectin-3 testing has been recognized for the first time in the newly issued 2013 American College of Cardiology Foundation and the American Heart Association (ACCF/AHA) Guideline for the Management of Heart Failure. The ACCF/AHA Guideline is designed to assist clinicians in selecting the best management strategy for individual patients and provides expert analysis of data on prevention, diagnosis, risk stratification, and treatment.

Galectin-3 testing has been assigned a Level of Evidence of 'A', multiple populations evaluated, and a Class of Recommendation corresponding to 'May Be Considered' for the purpose of additive risk stratification of acute heart failure patients, and a Level of Evidence of 'B', limited populations evaluated, and a Class of Recommendation of 'May Be Considered' for risk stratification of ambulatory heart failure patients.

The guideline further notes that testing for galectin-3 is predictive of risk of adverse outcomes in heart failure, including hospitalization, and is additive to BNP and NT-proBNP testing for heart failure patient risk stratification.

"We believe that the inclusion of galectin-3 in the updated ACCF/AHA Guideline is an important recognition of the potential significance of galectin-3 in the evaluation and management of patients with heart failure," commented Paul Sohmer, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of BG Medicine.

About American College of Cardiology Foundation and the American Heart Association (ACCF/AHA) Guideline for the Management of Heart Failure

The American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF) and the American Heart Association (AHA) have jointly produced guidelines in the area of cardiovascular disease since 1980. The ACCF/AHA Task Force on Practice Guidelines is charged with developing, updating and revising practice guidelines for cardiovascular diseases and procedures. Writing committees are charged with regularly reviewing and evaluating all available evidence to develop balanced, patient-centric recommendations for clinical practice. The guidelines for heart failure management were last published in 2009.

The 2013 ACCF/AHA Guideline for the Management of Heart Failure is currently available online at http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/early/2013/06/03/CIR.0b013e31829e8807 and will be published in the August 27, 2013 print issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).

About Galectin-3 Testing

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. http://www.galectin-3.com

About BG Medicine, Inc.

Read the original here:

BG Medicine Welcomes Inclusion of Galectin-3 as Biomarker of Myocardial Fibrosis in 2013 ACCF/AHA Guideline for ...