Kardia 6L

[Vicki1709]

Hi

I am looking to buy the 6L Kardia, may I ask does anyone's Cardiologist use the readings from their Kardia rather than you having to have the 24hour monitor fitted at the hospital?

I forgot to ask him when I saw him last week.

😊

[dedeottie]

Yes my E.P. accepts them as an accurate record of AF x

[Vicki1709 in reply to dedeottie]

Do you still have to have the 24 hour monitor from the hospital?

[sweetiepye]

They are used in addition to and not instead of. It gives an over all picture of your hearts activity . I think the more information they have the better off you will be.

[CDreamer]

Yes - always have. I’ve got the original 1 lead but am thinking of buying the new 6 lead when they become available. I used to email mine to my EP for advice when I had unusual rhythms.

[Jalia in reply to CDreamer]

CD, I was under the impression that Kardia could not be used if you have pacemaker , or is this pace/Ablate? I was going to get the 6lead ( PMS instruments have them £149...) but thought I would hold on in case I need pacemaker

[CDreamer in reply to Jalia]

I was under that impression too as it says so on their website - but they said that with the original but it still picks up AF with both my husband’S & mine despite having PM. What it does sometimes do is show a notched QRS which is a sign of PM resynchronising & does sometimes show interference from PM. So my experience is it does work, it does show AF but I get a lot more unclassified because if the PM interference.

I must emphasis that is only my experiences & they don’t recommend or guarantee for PMs.

[Jalia in reply to CDreamer]

Thanks !

[Hidden]

From my experience, holters will still be used but many cardiologists will also accept Kardia reports. Prior to my annual review, my EP arranged a 24 hour holter which produced a perfect result, but because I was able to produce reports showing 7 episodes of AF, he put me on his waiting list...…..

[dedeottie]

The last few times, he has accepted the Kardia results and not done a holster monitor. Whenever I have worn a holter, nothing has shown up!The same EP actually took a kardia reading as a diagnosis of new onset AF in my husband.

[tunybgur]

I use a Heal Force PC 80B, it's simple and quick to use and the trace is good enough to clearly show whether the P wave is missing or not, although the on screen diagnoses should be ignored.

I don't use all the leads, I just hold it against my chest.

My GP was originally sceptical of my diagnoses until I showed him the traces, now he considers it an acceptable indication of AF, although the 12 channel multi lead trace is still the gold standard.

[Cally53]

I have a Kardia 1 lead and when I went to see my EP I took copies of my readings. I'm glad I did because as the nurse there said to me, 'you look really healthy on paper'. She had just done my blood pressure and heart trace which were all perfectly normal. The EP looked at my Kardia readings, with af frequency of around every 10 days and put me straight on to his waiting list. The consultant I had at my local hospital had recommended I get one and I'm so glad he did because they didn't ever really catch anything on 24 hour monitors. I was told by him that they are clinically accurate.

[Vicki1709]

That's what my GP has said.

I don't live near the hospital so to be there for 8am and get through traffic and get parked is an absolute nightmare, for the 24 hour monitor to be fitted and then take it back the following morning.

[mjames1]

They do different things, so depending on your individual situation, one or both may be helpful.

The 24 hour Holter (or similar longer term monitors) does a continuous tracing so it may pick up arrhythmia the Kardia might miss, as not everyone is aware of all (or any) or their arrhythmia.

On the other hand, just like the car always works well when you bring it to the mechanic, you may not have an event while wearing a 24 hour monitor, but you may have one before and after. That's where the Kardia shines, because it's always there to capture an event.

As far as accuracy and usefulness, every cardiologist and ep I've been to accepts the Kardia's tracings, and one prominent ep said he prefers the Kardia's tracings to the Holters in terms of quality.

I have both the original Kardia Mobile and the newer 6 lead but I mostly use the Apple Watch now which does the same thing, at least for my purposes, and I find more convenient. Only the Apple Watch 4 and 5 have the EKG feature.

Jim

[VioletG]

My EP is very enthusiastic about the Kardia devices. He was one who recommended I get one. I was seeing him for a slow heart, and he said that condition put me at higher risk for developing AF. So he wanted me to attach one to my cell phone and use it if I felt odd heart behavior. He said that either their original model or the 6L are quite good in detecting AF. I got the original one. He did add that it was important to know that they can show false positives. Sure enough, I did have an event, and it was the various printouts from my Kardia device, the original one, that I sent him, that led to my diagnosis of AF. I think the device recordings are accepted as very accurate by most cardiologists.

[mjames1]

To clarify, the Kardia EKG tracings are not "false positives". The tracings are what they are and the quality is as good, if not better, than with many Holters.

The false positives referenced are when Kardia's interpretation (algorithm) is incorrect. The same thing can happen in your doctor's office when their 12-lead algorithm is incorrect.

Fortunately, any cadiologist or EP worth their salt (can't say the same for non specialists) will base their diagnosis on the actual EKG tracing and not on the machine's interpretation.

As an aside, the Apple Watch's algorithm, unlike with the Kardia, will not make ANY interpretation if your heart rate is over 120 which is the case with many of us when we go into Afib. But again,the actual tracing is fine, and any good EP or cardiologist can use it to make their diagnosis.

Jim

[Vicki1709 in reply to mjames1]

Hi Jim

Thank you.

Do you have the 1 lead or the 6 lead Kardia?

Do you pay for the monthly subscription?

Thanks

Vicki

[mjames1 in reply to Vicki1709]

I have both the single lead (Kardia Mobile) and the newer 6 Lead. I also have the Apple Watch 5. I mostly now just use the Apple Watch 5 for convenience. The Apple Watch is a single lead. Not sure how important a 6 lead (versus single lead) is for home use but that is a question for your doctor. The Kardia's tracing's look just a little sharper than Apple's tracing's, but again, not sure how important that is. The Kardia will also make an interpretation if your heart rate is over 120 while the Apple Watch will not. But again, your EP or cardiologist will not need an interpretation, just the EKG.

I do pay the Kardia's monthly subscription but probably will drop it soon. In the past, Kardia would not save your ECGs to the cloud without the monthly subscription, so you would have to email them to yourselves. My understanding is that they now do save them to the cloud for free, probably to compete with the Apple Watch that saves the EKGs for free. The caveat is that if you change phones for any reason, all your ECGs will be lost unless you have saved them manually. You might want to confirm this with Kardia since they might change things again.

If money is a factor, and unless your doctor says otherwise, I'd just go with the single lead Kardia Mobile without a subscription plan. Then I would periodically save your EKGs by emailing them to yourself, in case you ever switched phones.

Jim