Patients with heart failure (HF) were 38% less likely to be readmitted to the hospital for HF complications within 90 days when wearing the novel μCor device, a sensor that uses radiofrequency signals to assess the wearer’s thoracic fluid index and alert their clinician if needed, according to an international multicenter study presented at ACC.23/WCC.

John P. Boehmer, MD, FACC, et al., enrolled 522 patients within 10 days of hospitalization for HF. All patients were fitted with a μCor monitor, which was worn continuously for 90 days. For half the patients (n=257), information from the monitor was not sent to their clinician, serving as a control group. For patients in the intervention arm (n=265), data was sent to their clinician along with action alerts if their thoracic fluid level crossed a threshold established using data collected in the control arm.

The study’s primary endpoint evaluated the likelihood of patients returning to the hospital within 90 days due to HF complications. Results showed that patients whose clinicians monitored their thoracic fluid index using the μCor device had a 38% relative risk reduction (p=0.03), when compared with those in the control arm. The absolute risk reduction was 7% at 90 days and the number needed to treat was 14.3.

Researchers additionally explored change in quality of life, measured by the quality-of-life subscale of the KCCQ-12, among patients in the intervention and control groups. While both arms experienced an average improvement in quality of life over the 90 days, patients in the intervention arm reported an average increase in quality of life 12-points higher than patients in the control group (p=0.004).

The study authors acknowledge that this was a concurrent control clinical trial, therefore it was not randomized. While the enrollment periods of the two groups did overlap, the control arm was started first to collect thoracic fluid index information used to create the data notification criteria for the intervention arm.

“It’s very exciting to have a positive result within the remote monitoring field,” said Boehmer. “Having a wearable technology is particularly encouraging because it gives you the opportunity to monitor a patient during a high-risk interval and then stop monitoring when they exit that high-risk interval.”

Clinical Topics: Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathies, Acute Heart Failure

Keywords: ACC Annual Scientific Session, ACC23, Heart Failure, Wearable Electronic Devices

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