Spatz Adjustable Intragastric Balloon System® for Non-Surgical Weight Loss Remains Effective 2 Years After Removal

GREAT NECK, New York, Jan. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Spatz FGIA, Inc., makers of the Spatz Adjustable Intragastric Balloon, announces encouraging results of a recent study on weight loss maintenance. The study reports long term weight loss maintenance among a group of 79 patients who had a Spatz balloon implanted as a non-invasive tool for weight loss. Intragastric balloons provide a safe, non-surgical alternative to weight loss surgery and have been used worldwide since 1993.

In this study, researchers examined whether patients maintained medically significant weight loss for two years after removal of the Spatz Adjustable Intragastric Balloon. Medical experts agree that losing and maintaining more than 10% of initial weight results in improvements in medical illness like diabetes and hypertension and reduced need for medications.

The study results were favorable. Twelve months after the Spatz Intragastric Balloon was removed, 75.7% of patients maintained a greater than 10% weight loss. Twenty four months after balloon removal, 76.4% of patients succeeded in maintaining greater than 10% weight loss.

Dr. Jeffrey Brooks, Founder and CEO of Spatz FGIA, Inc., remarked, "We are genuinely encouraged by these results. Maintenance of weight loss is an important measure of our patients' success. The Spatz Intragastric Balloon is both fully adjustable and approved for twice as long an implantation period as other gastric balloons on the market. These data provide clinical evidence that the Spatz Intragastric Balloon also offers more effective long term results than its competitors."

Spatz FGIA, Inc. is submitting the data to the Digestive Disease Week 2014 conference. DDW is the largest and most prestigious annual conference in the field of gastroenterology, attended by 15,000 physicians, researchers and academics from around the world.

About Spatz FGIA, Inc.

Spatz FGIA, Inc. is a medical device company that created the next generation gastric balloon for the worldwide obesity epidemic. Now available for commercial use in 32 countries, the company's flagship product, the Spatz3 Adjustable Balloon System®, offers a unique non-surgical solution for the overweight and obese. The 15-minute out-patient procedure reduces stomach capacity to give patients a feeling of satiety. Patients are discharged within one hour after insertion. Gastric balloons are not yet approved by the FDA for use in the US.