Seamens' Sign: a novel electrocardiogram prediction tool for left ventricular hypertrophy

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Medical Diagnostics

Background:

• Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is linked to increased mortality and cardiovascular disease risk.
• Electrocardiograms (ECGs) can identify at-risk patients for early intervention.
• A novel, user-friendly ECG screening criterion, Seamens' Sign, was developed for LVH detection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the novel Seamens' Sign as a screening criterion for LVH.
• To compare the diagnostic performance of Seamens' Sign against established LVH criteria.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective chart review of 2,184 patients with ECG and transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) within 90 days.
• Assessment of Seamens' Sign noninferiority in confirming LVH compared to standard criteria.
• Calculation of test characteristics and inter-rater agreement (Cohen's Kappa) for LVH criteria.

Main Results:

• Seamens' Sign demonstrated a specificity of 0.92 for LVH detection.
• The criterion was noninferior to Sokolow-Lyon and Cornell (men) criteria (p < 0.001).
• Seamens' Sign achieved the highest inter-rater agreement (90%) among all assessed criteria.

Conclusions:

• Seamens' Sign is a noninferior ECG criterion for diagnosing LVH compared to Sokolow-Lyon and Cornell (men) criteria.
• Its high inter-rater agreement suggests ease of use and potential for widespread clinical application.
• This simple ECG method aids in identifying patients with LVH for further risk management.