Photo Credit: Teresa Otto

The following is a summary of “Physician Preferences in Using Novel Digital Devices for the Management of Atrial Fibrillation—A DAS-CAM III Survey,” published in the November 2024 issue of Cardiology by Manninger et al.     

Recent European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) guidelines recommend digital devices using electrocardiogram (ECG) or photoplethysmography (PPG) technology to help diagnose atrial fibrillation (AF).  

Researchers conducted a prospective study to assess how physicians prefer using digital devices for managing patients with AF.  

They distributed an online survey to 505 physicians (median age: 38 [IQR 33–46] years) from 30 countries, including electrophysiologists, cardiologists, cardiology residents, and general practitioners, to understand the preferences for using digital devices in managing AF.  

The results showed that electrophysiologists were more likely to have experience with both ECG-based (92% vs. 68%, P<0.001) and PPG-based (60% vs. 34%, P<0.001) digital devices. The initial diagnostic approach varied across different clinical scenarios (symptomatic low-risk, symptomatic high-risk, or asymptomatic patients in high-risk). Electrophysiologists preferred intermittent single-lead ECG monitoring over traditional Holter ECGs for screening people for AF. Both electrophysiologists and non-electrophysiologists rarely used PPG-based devices to diagnose and screen for AF (8.2%–9.8%). Both groups used ECG-based technology to confirm PPG-documented tracings suggesting AF.  

They concluded that while PPG-based devices were rarely used for diagnosing AF, intermittent ECG-based devices were being increasingly implemented in clinical practice, and more education was needed to help physicians use them effectively in diagnosis and management.  

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/clc.24331