Early myopericarditis diagnosed in a 31-year-old patient using smartwatch technology: A case report

Smartwatches, wrist-mounted devices with computing capacity able to connect with other devices via short-range wireless networking, are today commonly used by the general population to monitor their health status using specific applications. Currently, these devices offer new possibilities in remote health care monitoring and integration with other applications, through alert notifications, collection of personal data by a variety of sensors and the storage of these data. Several companies are introducing smartwatches with "health status" monitoring software with multiple functions, i.e. electrocardiogram (ECG) sensors. Recently, detection of atrial fibrillation based on heart rate monitoring by optical sensors resulted to be feasible and reliable when using the Apple Watch® and its corresponding application. Indeed, previous case reports highlighted its sensitivity in detecting morphological changes typical of the Acute Coronary Syndrome.

We report the case of a healthcare worker, who experienced chest pain and diffuse myalgia, detected ECG alterations in the ST segment, and reached the Emergency Department Myopericarditis was diagnosed and treated promptly to prevent complications.

Acute viral myocarditis and pericarditis are clinical conditions, usually characterized by 21 a benign course that does not require medical evaluation. However, ventricular arrhythmias are also common in viral myocarditis, and the latter is associated with a large proportion of sudden cardiac deaths in the young population without previous structural heart disease. In this case report, smartwatch technology allowed the preventive implementation of interventions against potentially life-threatening complications. Further developments in smartwatch technology could lead to more sensitive and specific diagnostic algorithms for conditions that require immediate medical intervention.