Screening with a "smart," artificial-intelligence (AI)-enhanced investigational digital stethoscope (Eko Duo) that provides phonocardiogram and electrocardiogram (ECG) readings doubled the detection of peripartum cardiomyopathy in a large study of obstetric patients in Nigeria.
Demilade A. Adedinsewo, MD, MPH, from Mayo Clinic, Florida, reported these findings from the Screening for Pregnancy Related Heart Failure in Nigeria (SPEC-AI Nigeria) trial in a press briefing and in a late-breaking trial session at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2023.
"The key takeaway," Adedinsewo told theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology, "is recognizing that a simple, low-impact tool like a digital stethoscope can dramatically improve the diagnosis of a life-threatening condition, and we can treat it. A large proportion of the women will recover; if we identify them early and treat them appropriately, we can reduce the risk of dying."
If the device predicted low ejection fraction, the patient went on to have an echocardiogram to confirm cardiomyopathy, defined as a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) <50%.
Peripartum cardiomyopathy was detected in 4% of the women who were screened with this tool, compared with 1.8% of those who received usual care, which included a traditional ECG.
"I believe that the control arm also has about 4% of cardiomyopathy cases, but because they didn't have the same screening and echo, we're missing them," Adedinsewo said.
