Apple Watch Can Detect Arrhythmias Other Than AFib, Study Shows

According to new research published this week in American Heart Association Journal, Apple Watch can detect arrhythmias other than Atrial Fibrillation (AFib). The Apple watch irregular pulse detection algorithm was found to have a positive predictive value of 0.84 for the identification of atrial fibrillation (AFib). MyHealthyApple reports: The Apple Heart Study investigated a smartwatch-based irregular pulse notification algorithm to identify AFib. For this secondary analysis, the researchers analyzed participants who received an ambulatory ECG patch after index irregular pulse notification. Among 419,297 participants enrolled in the Apple Heart Study, 450 participant ECG patches were analyzed, with no AF on 297 ECG patches (66%). Non-AF arrhythmias (excluding supraventricular tachycardias [less than] 30 beats and pauses [less than] 3 seconds) were detected in 119 participants (40.1%) with ECG patches without AFib. 76 participants (30.5%) reported subsequent AF diagnoses. In participants with an irregular pulse notification on the Apple Watch and no AF observed on ECG patch, atrial and ventricular arrhythmias, mostly PACs and PVCs, were detected in 40% of participants.

Fuck Apple

[AndyKron]

Fuck Apple

Re:

[Wild_dog!]

To what purpose?

Real World Impact?

[quantaman]

The Apple watch has been out there with the ability to detect heart issues and falls for a few years. Does anyone know of any studies of its real world impact?

Are doctors seeing a bunch of patients with previously undiagnosed serious heart conditions? Are emergency rooms saving heart attack victims that would otherwise have died at home alone? Or is this just not really translating into real world impacts for some reason?

Re:

[quantaman]

Or is this just not really translating into real world impacts for some reason?

It certainly does.
However if it is evidence you are looking for, all you're going to get is anecdotes and third party studies like this one with the basic facts and numbers.

Apple can't legally make any medical claims without first having FDA approval.
Getting that approval is expensive and time consuming.

I don't mean things like "catches X% of heart attacks" claims from Apple. I mean news reports of doctors seeing lots of patients accurately (or inaccurately) referred by their Apple Watch. Or observational studies noticing an X% change in Y that seems to correspond with Apple Watch users.

There's enough of these things out there that there should be measurable effects.

Re:

[Junta]

It circles back around to his general theme: when it comes to medical research, we are extremely careful and reluctant to declare specifics. Particularly when it comes to statements about apparent changes in outcomes.

Admittedly, we'd probably hear stories if cardiologists were overwhelmed with false positives, and so it seems if there is a false positive issue, it's not a huge deal at the moment. If it or anything else in that class of consumer fitness tracker has diagnostic value, the community is going

Re: Real World Impact?

[TuballoyThunder]

You are incorrect: The Apple Watch Series 4 is approved as a Class II medical device [fda.gov].

Re: Real World Impact?

[MysteriousPreacher]

From a read of that it looks like the ECG app is what the FDA has categorised, not the watch itself.

Re: Real World Impact?

[TuballoyThunder]

Which only runs on the Apple Watch. I don't think if you translated the software and had it run on a non-Apple Watch device it would retain the certification.

Re: Real World Impact?

[MysteriousPreacher]

That must be a fancy city way of saying 'yes'.

Re: Real World Impact?

[TuballoyThunder]

No, I'm not smart enough to understand the point you are trying to make.

Re: Real World Impact?

[backslashdot]

To detect heart attacks more reliably you might have to wear an Apple Watch on your ankle because that captures the superinferior axis. It might look awkward whenever you have to check the time though. Although I am sure Apple would oblige to sell a second watch for that purpose.

Re:

[theshowmecanuck]

Seems to me this is a real world study. There seems to be evidence that people who wouldn't have suspected, to ask their doctor about it when the watch detected something. I am anything but an Apple fan, but then again, anything that can give someone a fairly accurate heads up to something that might kill them is, I think, a good thing.

How romantic. :-)

[fahrbot-bot]

See the girl of my dreams, my heart skips a beat and I have to clear a notification on my watch.

You are wearing it wrong

[backslashdot]

What about the big one, a heart attack .. if it can detect ST elevation (on the equivalent of) a V3 lead, it ought to be able to detect many, if not a vast majority, of heart attacks. However, I think you might need to wear it on your ankle. Might look a bit awkward to check your ankle for the time, but it is less embarrassing than dying from a heart attack. Hmm, maybe they should sell ankle bracelets.

Re:

[amp001]

You can definitely see at least some ST elevations on an Apple Watch ECG (lead I – fingertip of one arm to wrist of other arm). I have two stents as a result of seeing that myself a couple years ago (didn't feel good while walking briskly, took an ECG on the watch, wondered why it looked like a shark fin instead of sinus rhythm, learned what it was called in the ER). You can also clearly see bigeminy and trigeminy PVC patterns (heading in for another angiogram today, in fact, after seeing

It can also detect neurinos and turn base metals..

[nothinginparticular]

in to gold.

Health Insurance...

[MancunianMaskMan]

... companies' wet dream!

Can you still buy health insurance in the US while not owning an Apple watch, and signing the related 94-page small print data sharing agreement?

Amazing tech

[p51d007]

My Samsung Gear 3 Frontier, 2 years ago I was wondering why my resting heart rate at night would spike into the 90 bpm during sleep. After talking to my doctor, and a sleep study, I've been on a CPAP since. HR stays in the 50 range at night. My newer Watch 3 couple weeks ago detected afib. I'm due to have one of those gizmos that monitors your HR for a couple weeks next month, after an echo cardiogram.