Accuracy of blinded clinician interpretation of single-lead smartphone electrocardiograms and a proposed clinical workflow

Abstract

Despite the appeal of smartphone-based electrocardiograms (ECGs) for arrhythmia screening, a paucity of data exists on the accuracy of primary care physicians’ and cardiologists’ interpretation of tracings compared with the device's automated diagnosis. Using 408 ECGs in 51 patients, we demonstrate a variable accuracy in clinician interpretation of smartphone-based ECGs, with only cardiologists demonstrating satisfactory agreement when referenced against a 12-lead ECG. Combining the device automated diagnostic algorithm with cardiologist interpretation of only uninterpretable traces yielded excellent results and provides an efficient, cost-effective workflow for the utilization of a smartpho..