Cambridge Heart Inc. is touting a study of a test it says can accurately predict the risk of a sudden heart attack.
The Tewksbury-based maker of cardiac diagnostic products said it published four papers in support of the Microvolt T Wave Alternans test.
Dr. Stefan Hohnloser, director of electrophysiology at the J.W. Goethe University’s cardiology department in Frankfurt, Germany, performed a “meta analysis” of 13 clinical studies involving 6,000 heart patients.
Those studies showed that the test is an accurate predictor of the risk of heart disease, Hohnloser determined. Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the United States.
The reports were published in the March issue of Heart Rhythm.
Cambridge Heart, which describes the MTWA test as similar to a simple treadmill stress test, has had difficulty getting it covered by some large health insurers such as United Health and several Blue Cross/Blue Shield affiliates, according to its most recent quarterly report.
The company estimates that 20 percent of patients who could benefit from the product do not have access to it due to reimbursement issues.
