Wrist-Derived Photoplethysmography Can Accurately ID Cardiac Arrest

TUESDAY, May 26, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Wrist-derived photoplethysmography (PPG) can accurately detect cardiac arrest in adults undergoing ventricular tachycardia (VT) ablation or subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implantation, according to a research letter published online April 14 in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology.Roos Edgar, from the Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, Netherlands, and colleagues conducted a prospective multicenter study involving 50 adult patients undergoing VT ablation or subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implantation while wearing a PPG-wristband. The primary end point was sensitivity for detecting cardiac arrest (pulseless ventricular tachycardia [pVT] or ventricular fibrillation [VF]), assessed on a per-event and a per-patient basis.Forty-nine patients were included in the analysis; seven underwent subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implantation and 43 underwent VT ablation. The researchers found that 26 patients had 59 shockable events: 50 due to pVT and nine due to VF. No events were induced in the remaining 23 patients. The sensitivity for detection of cardiac arrest was 92 percent in the per-event analysis composed of all 59 events. Sensitivity for VF detection and pVT was 100 and 90 percent, respectively. Thirty-three alerts occurred in the absence of pVT/VF in 13 patients who had undergone VT ablation; 24 of these were considered clinically relevant. Twelve of these episodes occurred in a single patient. The positive predictive value for detection of cardiac arrest was 86 percent. In the per-patient analysis considering only the first event per patient, the sensitivity was 92 percent for detecting VF/pVT."The goal is to connect the wristband to emergency dispatch centers and volunteer responder networks in the Netherlands so that nearby rescuers and ambulance services can be alerted immediately when cardiac arrest is detected," senior author Judith Bonnes, M.D., Ph.D., also from the Radboud University Medical Center, said in a statement.Abstract/Full Text.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Wrist-Derived Photoplethysmography Can Accurately ID Cardiac Arrest

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