Washington: According to a recent study conducted by UCL researchers, portable devices such as Smart Watches could be used to predict an increased risk of developing heart failure and abnormal heart rhythms in adulthood.
The peer-reviewed study, published in The European Heart Journal – Digital Healthanalyzed data from 83,000 people who had undergone a 15-second electrocardiogram (electrocardiogram) comparable to that carried out with smart watches and telephone devices.
The researchers identified electrocardiogram recordings containing extra heartbeats that are usually benign but, if they occur frequently, are related to conditions such as heart failure and arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat).
They found that people with an extra beat in this short recording (one in 25 of the total) had twice the risk of developing heart failure, or an irregular heart rhythm (atrial fibrillation) over the next 10 years.
The ECG recordings analyzed were from people between the ages of 50 and 70 who did not have any known cardiovascular disease at that time.
Heart failure is a situation in which the heart pump becomes weak. Often it cannot be treated. atrial fibrillation It occurs when abnormal electrical impulses suddenly start firing in the upper chambers of the heart (atria), causing an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate. It can be life-limiting, causing problems including dizziness, shortness of breath, and tiredness, and is linked to a five-fold increased risk of stroke.
Lead author Dr. Michele Orini (UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences) said: “Our study suggests that ECGs from consumer-grade wearable devices may help detect and prevent future heart disease.
“The next step is to investigate how detection of people using wearable devices might work better in practice.
“Such an assessment could potentially be combined with the use of artificial intelligence and other computational tools to rapidly identify ECGs that indicate increased risk, as we did in our study, leading to a more accurate assessment of risk in the population and helping to reduce the burden of these diseases.
Lead Author Professor Pier D. Lambiase (UCL Barts Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Heart Center, Barts NHS Health Trust) said: “Being able to identify people at risk of heart failure and arrhythmia at an early stage would mean we could test the highest-risk cases more effectively and help prevent cases by starting treatment early and providing style advice about the importance of moderate exercise and diet.
In an ECG, sensors attached to the skin are used to detect the electrical signals produced by the heart each time it beats. In clinical settings, at least 10 sensors are placed around the body and a specialist doctor watches the recordings for signs of a potential problem. Consumer wearables are based on two sensors (single cable) integrated into a single device and as a result are less cumbersome, but may be less accurate.
For the new article, the research team used machine learning and an automated computer tool to identify recordings with extra beats. These extra beats were classified as premature ventricular contractions (PVCs), coming from the lower chambers of the heart, or premature atrial contractions (PACs), coming from the upper chambers.
Recordings identified as having extra beats and some recordings not considered to have extra beats were reviewed by two experts to ensure that the classification was correct.
The researchers first analyzed data from 54,016 UK Biobank project participants with a mean age of 58, whose health was followed for an average of 11.5 years after their ECG was recorded. They then looked at a second group of 29,324 participants, median age 64, who were followed for 3.5 years.
After adjusting for potentially confounding factors, such as age and medication use, the researchers found that one extra beat from the lower chambers of the heart was associated with a two-fold increase in subsequent heart failure, while one extra beat from of the upper chambers (atria) was associated with a twofold increase in cases of atrial fibrillation.
