AUTHOR=Spaich Sebastian , Kern Hanna , Zelniker Thomas A. , Stiepak Jan , Gabel Michael , Popp Erik , Katus Hugo A. , Preusch Michael R.
TITLE=Feasibility of CardioSecur®, a Mobile 4-Electrode/22-Lead ECG Device, in the Prehospital Emergency Setting
JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine
VOLUME=7
YEAR=2020
URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cardiovascular-medicine/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2020.551796
DOI=10.3389/fcvm.2020.551796
ISSN=2297-055X
ABSTRACT=Background: This study explores the application of CardioSecur® (CS-ECG), a hand-held 4-electrode/22-lead ECG-device, in comparison with conventional 12-lead electrocardiogram (c12L-ECG) in patients with acute chest pain in the prehospital emergency setting.
Methods: CS-ECG systems were provided for two physician-staffed emergency ambulances and parallel recordings of c12L-ECG and CS-ECG were obtained from all patients with acute chest pain. Treating emergency physicians were asked to evaluate the CS-ECG system with a standardized questionnaire. Following study completion, acquired ECGs were analyzed separately by two independent cardiologists blinded to all other medical records.
Results: Over a period of 20 months a total of 203 patients were included in our study. According to a standardized questionnaire, 79% of emergency medical professionals preferred application of CS-ECG, with 87% of teams judging CS-ECG to be beneficial for patients. Morover, 79% of physicians reported a reduction in time to definitive diagnosis with implementation of CS-ECG. The majority of professional users attested user-friendliness and feasibility of CS-ECG in terms of easy general handling (94%), application (93%), and placement of electrodes (98%). During prehospital triage, both c12L-ECG and CS-ECG correctly identified 31 (91%) patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).
Conclusion: In this first pilot study, implementation of the CardioSecur®-ECG system in the prehospital emergency setting demonstrated feasibility and user-friendliness so that emergency teams generally preferred CS-ECG to c12L-ECG. Diagnostic yield of CS-ECG was similar to c12L-ECG recordings.