Every year, approximately 5 million people worldwide die from sudden cardiac death (SCD), a fatal event that can strike even apparently healthy young people. A new experimental method developed by Finnish researchers identifies patients at risk with a simple one-minute heart rate measurement at rest, which can also be detected with a smartwatch.
The sudden cardiac death (MCI) is an event cardiovascular fulminant that can appear without warning symptoms even in young, strong and apparently healthy individuals. In the world, just under 5 million people lose their lives every year due to this condition; in Italiaaccording to the data cited by the Observatory of Rare Diseases, occur 50,000 almost every year, a thousand of which concern young people under 35 years of age. Due to the sudden and cryptic nature of sudden cardiac death, which is related to congenital anomalies or under “silent” conditions, it is difficult to determine which subjects are at risk of developing it. Now scientists have developed a new algorithm able to identify people who are most likely to die from MCI. The method is based on a statistical parameter called detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA2 a1), thanks to which it is possible to grasp variations in the heart rate associated with the risk of sudden cardiac death.
To develop the new method capable of foresee the risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD), while offering opportunities for preventionwas a Finnish research team led by scientists from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology at Tampere University, who collaborated closely with colleagues from the Computational Physics Laboratory, Fimlab Laboratories, the Section of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine at Tampere University Hospital and other institutions. The researchers, coordinated by Professor Jussi Hernesniemi, lecturer in cardiology, developed the new computational method after thoroughly analyzing very short-term heart rate fluctuations. If with traditional methods the risk of cardiovascular death is determined through parameters obtained during tests fitness cardiorespiratorio and other tests with the heart under strainwith the new heart rate variability is assessed at rest, in intervals of just 1 minute.
Professor Hernesniemi and colleagues analyzed data from approximately 4,000 patients involved in the prospective FINCAVAS study (Finnish Cardiovascular Study), whose heart rate variations were collected at rest and during exercise. During the follow-up period of approximately 8 years, 83 cases of sudden cardiac death occurred. Cross-referencing all the data collected during the tests, it emerged that the method most strongly associated with the fatal condition was the measurement of heart rate at rest, through 1-minute electrocardiograms and using detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). This method “provides a significantly better estimate of the long-term risk of sudden death,” as the study authors explained in a press release. In practice, patients with heart rate abnormalities detected with this specific method were more likely to have MCI (by well 2,4 volte) than patients with typical heart rates. The researchers also took into account confounding risk factors such as age and other underlying cardiovascular problems.
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“It is possible that in many previously asymptomatic individuals who have suffered sudden cardiac death or who have been resuscitated after sudden cardiac arrest, the event would have been predictable and preventable if the emergence of risk factors had been detected in time,” said Professor Hernesniemi. “The most interesting finding of the study is the identification of differences that emerged during measurements at rest. The heart rate range characteristics of high-risk patients at rest resemble those of a healthy heart during physical exertion,” echoed PhD student and study co-author Teemu Pukkila.
One of the most significant aspects of the study lies in the fact that these heart rate anomalies can also be detected through a simple smart wearable device, such as a smartwatch (watch) or a smart ring (ring). A recent study by New Zealand scientists from Massey University and Auckland University of Technology determined that a new defibrillation method called “double sequential external defibrillation” (or DSED) is capable of saving the lives of patients in cardiac arrest who do not respond to standard treatments. Combining this procedure with the identification of patients at risk of sudden cardiac death could save a significant number of lives each year. The details of the research “Prediction of Sudden Cardiac Death With Ultra-Short-Term Heart Rate Fluctuations” were published in the specialized scientific journal JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology.
