Boston Scientific Announces First Patient Active With LATITUDE™ NXT Remote Patient Management System

NATICK, Massachusetts and PARIS, June 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --



- Next-generation wireless remote patient management system enabled for INGENIO^[TM]family of pacemakers is now in use in Europe

Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) has initiated use of the LATITUDE NXT Remote Patient Management System with patients in Europe.

Dr. Roberto Verlato, head of cardiology at Camposampiero Hospital in Verona, Italy initiated use of the LATITUDE NXT system with a patient implanted with an INGENIO™ SR pacemaker, and provided the patient with a new home-based wireless communicator.

"We welcome the next-generation LATITUDE NXT system as it provides pacemaker patients with a simple and easy-to-use communicator that may replace certain in-clinic follow-up visits.  The system offers clinicians the most comprehensive suite of diagnostic tools in the CRM industry  to support proactive treatment decisions and provide an opportunity to verify improvement of clinical outcomes, as was demonstrated for ICD and CRT-D patients in the ALTITUDE Survival study," said Dr. Verlato.

The LATITUDE NXT website and patient communicator merge key features from the trusted LATITUDE system with new features requested by physicians and patients, and is fully compatible with Boston Scientific's advanced pacemaker family: INGENIO^™ and ADVANTIO^™ pacemakers and INVIVE^™ cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemakers (CRT-P).  

LATITUDE NXT offers patients a simplified experience with wireless and automatic remote follow-up and optional integrated cellular GSM connectivity, providing patients with greater convenience than existing systems. In addition, LATITUDE NXT features a unique communicator-initiated device interrogation which is designed to minimize impact on implanted device battery longevity, potentially giving patients greater peace of mind.

LATITUDE NXT offers health care professionals a system that provides convenient online access to relevant pacemaker patient information, and flexibility and control in how clinicians receive and review data. The LATITUDE NXT system features alert notification options such as SMS message or email, simple website administration, and integration with the hospital medical database (electronic medical records, or EMR) to automate hospital workflow - which could save up to 15 minutes for each patient transmission, the average time it takes to manually enter routine device follow-up data into an EMR system.

LATITUDE NXT is compatible with the wireless weight scale and blood pressure monitor from Boston Scientific.  Physicians can choose to remotely monitor a series of relevant health status indicators including weight and blood pressure, as well as respiratory and sleep apnea trending. By providing access to this diagnostic information, LATITUDE NXT enables physicians to risk-stratify patients to more confidently make informed, proactive treatment decisions.

"We are proud to enhance the level of support available to pacemaker patients by offering the state-of-the-art LATITUDE NXT system. An increasing percentage of patients needing cardiac rhythm therapy are indicated for pacemakers, and we are pleased to continue to innovate technology to support positive patient outcomes and quality of life," said Michael Onuscheck, senior vice president and president of EMEA for Boston Scientific.

Pacemakers are designed to treat bradycardia, a condition in which the heart beats too slowly - usually less than 60 beats per minute - depriving the body of sufficient oxygen.

For more news about Boston Scientific at Cardiostim 2012, please follow us on Twitter @bsc_eu_heart (https://twitter.com/#!/BSC_EU_Heart).

The LATITUDE NXT Remote Patient Management System is currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is currently not available for sale in the United States.

About Boston Scientific

Boston Scientific is a worldwide developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical devices that are used in a broad range of interventional medical specialties. For more information, please visit: http://www.bostonscientific.com.  

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  Forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "anticipate," "expect," "project," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "intend" and similar words.  These forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and estimates using information available to us at the time and are not intended to be guarantees of future events or performance.  These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding markets for our products in Europe, product performance and impact, and competitive offerings.  If our underlying assumptions turn out to be incorrect, or if certain risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements.  These factors, in some cases, have affected and in the future (together with other factors) could affect our ability to implement our business strategy and may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the statements expressed in this press release.  As a result, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of our forward-looking statements.  

Factors that may cause such differences include, among other things: future economic, competitive, reimbursement and regulatory conditions; new product introductions; demographic trends; intellectual property; litigation; financial market conditions; and future business decisions made by us and our competitors.  All of these factors are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of them are beyond our control.  For a further list and description of these and other important risks and uncertainties that may affect our future operations, see Part I, Item 1A - Risk Factors in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which we may update in Part II, Item 1A - Risk Factors in Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q we have filed or will file hereafter.  We disclaim any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in our expectations or in events, conditions or circumstances on which those expectations may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements.  This cautionary statement is applicable to all forward-looking statements contained in this document.