Synthetic electrocardiograms for Brugada syndrome: from data generation to expert cardiologists evaluation.


Por: Zanchi, B, Monachino, G, Faraci, FD, Metaldi, M, Brugada, P, Sarquella-Brugada G, Behr, ER, Brugada-Terradellas J, Crotti, L, Belhassen, B and Conte, G

Publicada: 1 jul 2025 Ahead of Print: 24 abr 2025
Resumen:
AIMS: Synthetic electrocardiograms (ECGs) for inherited cardiac diseases may overcome the issue related to data scarcity for artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithms. This study aimed to evaluate experienced cardiologists' ability to differentiate synthetic and real Brugada ECGs. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 2244 ECG instances (50% synthetic generated by a generative adversarial network, 50% real Brugada patients' ECGs) were evaluated by 7 cardiologists, each with >15 years of experience. All ECGs were standard 12-lead recordings acquired with identical settings (paper speed 25 mm/s, amplitude 10 mm/mV) and randomly assigned without identifying markers. The examination was blinded and conducted in 2 rounds with at least 2 h gap between rounds to assess potential learning effects and intra-rater reliability. Each physician classified the recordings as 'real' or 'synthetic' without having any additional information. Performance metrics, including accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and intra-rater reliability (Cohen's Kappa), were analyzed. Brugada syndrome (BrS) specialists' repeated evaluations were characterized by low accuracy (first round 40%, second round 42%), specificity (first round 22%, second round 26%) and sensitivity (first round 58%, second round 58%). Intra-rater reliability varied widely (Cohen's Kappa: -0.12 to 0.80). CONCLUSION: Synthetic Brugada ECGs cannot be adequately distinguished from real patients' ECGs by BrS specialists.

Filiaciones:
Zanchi, B:
 Inst Digital Technol Personalized Healthcare SUPSI, Dept Innovat Technol, Lugano, Switzerland

 Univ Zurich, Dept Quant Biomed, Zurich, Switzerland

Monachino, G:
 Inst Digital Technol Personalized Healthcare SUPSI, Dept Innovat Technol, Lugano, Switzerland

 Univ Bern, Inst Informat, Bern, Switzerland

Faraci, FD:
 Inst Digital Technol Personalized Healthcare SUPSI, Dept Innovat Technol, Lugano, Switzerland

Metaldi, M:
 Inst Digital Technol Personalized Healthcare SUPSI, Dept Innovat Technol, Lugano, Switzerland

Brugada, P:
 Univ Ziekenhuis Brussel, European Reference Networks Guard Heart, Heart Rhythm Management Ctr, Postgrad Program Cardiac Electrophysiol & Pacing, Brussels, Belgium

Sarquella-Brugada G:
 Univ Girona, Dept Ciencies Med, Fac Med, Girona 17003, Spain

 Hosp San Juan Dios, Inherited Cardiac Dis & Sudden Death Unit, Arrhythmia, Barcelona, Spain

 Inst Recerca St Joan Deu, Arritmies Pediat Cardiol Genetica I Mort Sobtada, Barcelona, Spain

Behr, ER:
 Univ London, St Georges Univ Hosp NHS Fdn Trust, Cardiovasc & Genom Res Inst, Cardiovasc Clin Acad Grp, London, England

Brugada-Terradellas J:
 Univ Barcelona, Hosp Clin, Cardiol Dept, Arrhythmia Sect, Barcelona, Spain

Crotti, L:
 IRCCS, Ist Auxol Italiano, Ctr Cardiac Arrhythmias Genet Origin, Lab Cardiovasc Genet, Milan, Italy

 Univ Milano Bicocca, Dept Med & Surg, Milan, Italy

Belhassen, B:
 Hadassah Med Ctr, Heart Inst, Jerusalem, Israel

 Tel Aviv Univ, Sackler Sch Med, Tel Aviv, Israel

Conte, G:
 Cardioctr Ticino Inst, Div Cardiol, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Via Tesserete 48, CH-6900 Lugano, Switzerland

 Univ Svizzera Italiana USI, Fac Biomed Sci, Lugano, Switzerland
ISSN: 26343916





European Heart Journal - Digital Health
Editorial
OXFORD UNIV PRESS, GREAT CLARENDON ST, OXFORD OX2 6DP, ENGLAND, Reino Unido
Tipo de documento: Article
Volumen: 6 Número: 4
Páginas: 683-687
WOS Id: 001482861900001
ID de PubMed: 40703115
imagen Green Submitted, gold

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