Phone Helps Diagnose Heart Condition

Mike Ward will always be an iPhone fan, after a serious heart problem was  diagnosed using his own device.

Although the 42 year old, from Cheshire, had experienced dizzy spells for a number of weeks, he initially put these down to stress or drinking too much caffeine.

It wasn’t until he blacked out during a meeting in work that the married father of three decided to return to his GP.

“One minute I was writing notes on a white board, and the next thing I knew I’d collapsed on the office floor in front of my colleagues,” said Mike.

“I’d always been fairly fit and active and hadn’t considered the possibility of a heart problem.

“However, I knew something wasn’t quite right and when I explained the symptoms to my GP, he referred me to Dr Derick Todd, Consultant Cardiologist at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.”

It was during this consultation that Dr Todd’s concerns about Mike’s heart, led him to carry out the ECG – using his own iPhone.

Dr Todd said: “I’d recently discovered a piece of innovative technology called the AliveCor Heart Monitor, which is an iPhone case that can record an ECG directly on to your phone. The ECG can then be emailed to the consultant looking after the patient.”

The system allows patients or medical staff to track cardiac rhythm easily and safely, as well as recording and transferring the ECG directly from the app.

He added: “When I saw Mike and he told me about his dizzy spells and blackouts, I was concerned. I gave him my case, downloaded the app to his phone and told him to perform an ECG the next time he experienced the symptoms and to email the trace to me.”

The small, portable heart monitor gives patients the freedom to continue with their daily activities without the constraints of an uncomfortable chest strap or an indiscreet monitor. It also enables consultants to monitor their patients between appointments.

Two days later, during a meeting in work, Mike used his phone to record his heart racing at well over 200 beats per minute.

Mike said: “Following my initial appointment, I experienced further dizzy spells and heart palpitations which I was able to capture on the heart monitor.

“As soon as Dr Todd received the traces, he contacted me to say that I needed to be admitted to hospital for further tests.

“These tests showed that I needed an urgent ablation procedure to correct my condition called right ventricle outflow tract ventricular tachycardia.”     

Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, one of the country’s premier cardiothoracic centres, carries out more than 1200 ablation procedures each year to control or correct abnormal fast heart rhythms.

After the procedure was carried out successfully, Mike was discharged home on the same day.

He said: “I couldn’t fault the hospital and the staff – they were superb. I’m just so glad to be able to get on with my life, symptom-free.”