More than 600,000 people visit emergency departments every year in the UK because of syncope (sudden loss of consciousness also known as blackout or fainting). Often, by the time the patient is seen by the medical team they have fully recovered making it hard to diagnose the underlying problem.
Colleagues at Salford recruited to the ASPIRED study, using a mobile heart ECG monitoring device to record the patients heartbeat and heart electrical rhythm tracing for up to 14 days. By applying the mobile heart monitor after attendance at the emergency department, researchers hoped to have a better chance of diagnosing the underlying problem that caused the syncope. The local principal investigator was Dr Aleksandr Valkov, supported by the acute research delivery team.
Results have now been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showing that immediate 14-day mobile ECG patch monitoring applied during initial ED visits for unexplained syncope didn’t reduce syncope episodes but doubled diagnosis of arrhythmia, lowered time-to-detection, and improved survival at one year.
The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation and led by the University of Edinburgh.