Home use of a compact, 12‑lead ECG recording system for newborns

Henry J Lin; Yueh-Tze Lan; Michael J Silka; Nancy J Halnon; Eva Villa-Lopez; Nataly Arenas; Fabian Escobedo; Ryan Montoya; Sarah Valdez; Omid Rajabi Shishvan; Sandra Sedano; Emily H Marr; Marie Lauzon; A S Moosa; Kimberly J Ko; Elaine C Shoji; Alexandra M Clark; Lynne M Smith; John Michael Criley; Wayne W Grody; Yii-Der Ida Chen; Kent D Taylor; Xiuqing Guo; Tolga Soyata; Jerome I Rotter; Tingchou Chien; Pai Chou; Ruey-Kang Chang

doi:10.1016/j.jelectrocard.2019.01.086

Home use of a compact, 12‑lead ECG recording system for newborns

J Electrocardiol. 2019 Mar-Apr:53:89-94. doi: 10.1016/j.jelectrocard.2019.01.086. Epub 2019 Jan 25.

Authors

Henry J Lin¹, Yueh-Tze Lan², Michael J Silka³, Nancy J Halnon⁴, Eva Villa-Lopez⁵, Nataly Arenas⁵, Fabian Escobedo⁵, Ryan Montoya⁵, Sarah Valdez⁵, Omid Rajabi Shishvan⁶, Sandra Sedano⁵, Emily H Marr⁵, Marie Lauzon⁷, A S Moosa⁸, Kimberly J Ko⁹, Elaine C Shoji¹⁰, Alexandra M Clark¹¹, Lynne M Smith¹², John Michael Criley¹³, Wayne W Grody¹⁴, Yii-Der Ida Chen¹⁵, Kent D Taylor¹⁶, Xiuqing Guo¹⁶, Tolga Soyata⁶, Jerome I Rotter¹⁷, Tingchou Chien¹⁸, Pai Chou¹⁸, Ruey-Kang Chang¹⁹

Affiliations

¹ Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA; Institute for Translational Genomics and Population Sciences, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA; David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Electronic address: hlin@labiomed.org.
² Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, San Jose, CA, USA.
³ Division of Cardiology, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Department of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁴ Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁵ Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA.
⁶ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA.
⁷ Institute for Translational Genomics and Population Sciences, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA.
⁸ St. Francis Medical Center, Lynwood, CA, USA.
⁹ Division of Hospitalist Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, USA; David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Pediatrics, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA; David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA.
¹¹ Department of Pediatrics, Riverside University Health System - Medical Center, Moreno Valley, CA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Loma Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda, CA, USA.
¹² Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, Torrance, CA, USA; David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹³ Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, Torrance, CA, USA; David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹⁴ Departments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Pediatrics, and Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹⁵ Institute for Translational Genomics and Population Sciences, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA; Division of Genomic Outcomes, Department of Pediatrics, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA; Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹⁶ Institute for Translational Genomics and Population Sciences, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA; Division of Genomic Outcomes, Department of Pediatrics, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA; David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹⁷ Institute for Translational Genomics and Population Sciences, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA; Division of Genomic Outcomes, Department of Pediatrics, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA; Departments of Human Genetics, Medicine, and Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, The Henry Samueli School of Engineering, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
¹⁹ Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA; David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Abstract

Background: An easy-to-operate ECG recorder should be useful for newborn screening for heart conditions, by health care workers - or parents. We developed a one-piece electrode strip and a compact, 12‑lead ECG recorder for newborns.

Method: We enrolled 2582 newborns in a trial to assess abilities of parents to record a 12‑lead ECG on their infants (2-4 weeks-old). Newborns were randomized to recordings by parents (1290) or our staff (1292 controls). Educational backgrounds of parents varied, including 64% with no more than a high school diploma.

Results: For newborns randomized to parent recorded ECGs, 94% of parents completed a 10-minute recording. However, 42.6% asked for verbal help, and 12.7% needed physical help. ECG quality was the same for recordings by parents versus staff.

Conclusions: By use of a one-piece electrode strip and a compact recorder, 87% of parents recorded diagnostic quality ECGs on their newborn infants, with minimal assistance.

Keywords: ECG electrodes; ECG recorder; Newborn screening.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Arrhythmias, Cardiac / diagnosis*
Electrocardiography / instrumentation*
Electrodes
Equipment Design
Female
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Male
Mass Screening / instrumentation*
Miniaturization
Parents*

Grants and funding

R42 HL112435/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/United States