Digital health care and arrhythmia: a case of WPW syndrome in South Korea, 2020

BACKGROUND: The digital health care field is expanding from the daily monitoring of chronic diseases to the detection of acute diseases, such as arrhythmia. Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome, a congenital cardiac disorder due to accessory pathways, causes tachycardia, syncope, and even sudden death. CASE PRESENTATION: We presented a 26-year-old female office worker with WPW syndrome managing the disease with a wearable device and discussed its significance in occupational medicine. After reviewing the worker's electrocardiogram results, symptoms, and pulse rate records extracted from the wearable device, we referred the worker to a cardiologist for further evaluations such as electrophysiology study. The worker monitors her symptom recurrence with the wearable device following successful radiofrequency catheter ablation of the bypass tract. CONCLUSIONS: A case of an office worker with WPW syndrome managing the disease using a smart watch is presented. Further research is required to ensure its scientific validity, and we suggest policymakers promptly introduce digital health care to occupational environments.