Telecardiology: results and perspectives of an operative experience

A telecardiology system has been established between six Italian hospitals. Four of them are connected using three ISDN lines; the remaining two are connected with only a single ISDN line. The telecardiology system was evaluated between two hospitals. Radiographs showing the heart movements of 10 patients were digitized and forwarded to the specialist hospital for expert opinion. The transfer time of a single patient sequence ranged from 6 h 40 min to 22 h 15 min using a single ISDN line at 128 kbit/s. The transfer time decreased considerably using three ISDN lines. Following data transfer, a joint consultation was organized between the cardiologists in realtime. Realtime telecardiology using three ISDN lines was clinically viable and more efficient than the traditional method of delivering this type of specialist care.