The Cancion CRS therapy is a percutaneous cardiac recovery system being studied for its ability to create a "rest-to-recovery" environment for congestive heart failure (CHF) patients. Enrollment in the Multicenter trial of the Orqis Medical CRS for the ENhanced Treatment of CHF, Unresponsive to Medical Therapy (MOMENTUM) trial began in September of this year.

"We've worked with the FDA to develop an effective protocol for the MOMENTUM trial and are gratified that we can now ramp up to a full complement of sites," said Marvin A. Konstam, M.D., Medical Director of Orqis Medical and Chief of Cardiology at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston. "This puts us yet another step closer to our goal of documenting the value that the Cancion therapy can bring to patients with heart failure."

Heart failure is the deterioration of the heart's ability to pump blood throughout the body and adequately perfuse the major organs. According to the AHA, some five million Americans have heart failure and an additional 550,000 are diagnosed annually. The single most expensive diagnosis in the U.S. health care system, acutely decompensated heart failure, represents 1 million primary and 2.5 million secondary hospital admissions annually.

About The Cancion CRS Therapy
A breakthrough discovery in hemodynamics -- the simple supplementation of blood flow specifically in the descending aorta -- led to the development of the Cancion CRS therapy, which centers on the novel use of a blood pump and proprietary peripheral access to the circulatory system.

The Cancion CRS increases blood flow in the descending aorta without t
'"/>

Contact: Kimberly Goolsby
kimberly@goolsbygroup.com
949-464-0187
Goolsby Group
10-Jan-2005