A CD&D

Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts) reported a new clinical science initiative, Altitude, which will analyze data from the Latitude patient management system.

The initiative will use the Latitude data to seek answers to common questions related to implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT-D) device therapy.

The company said that the Altitude initiative will be managed in collaboration with an external physician panel who will assist in identifying relevant clinical issues for examination.

The company reported enrolling nearly 100,000 patients on the Latitude patient management system since its introduction in 2006. The Latitude system allows physicians to schedule remote check-ups of implantable cardiac devices to monitor specific device information and patient heart health status. It can also detect clinical events between scheduled follow-up visits and send relevant data directly to physicians.

"The Altitude clinical science initiative will enhance physician understanding of device therapy in real-world practice and offer insights into event rates and disease progression in the ICD and CRT-D patient populations," said Leslie Saxon, MD, chief, cardiovascular medicine in the Cardiovascular and Thoracic Institute, University of Southern California (Los Angeles), and chairperson of the Altitude physician panel. "We look forward to beginning our analysis and sharing the findings of this pioneering effort."

Boston Scientific said that the Altitude clinical science initiative supplements other similar programs it has underway, including RAPID-RF, which evaluates the clinical outcomes associated with remote patient monitoring, and the Longitudinal Surveillance Registry, which evaluates the long-term reliability and clinical performance of device therapy.