Exploring seismocardiographic signals in children with congenital heart disease: a prospective pilot study

Abstract Congenital heart diseases (CHD) are the most common congenital malformations, and early identification is essential for reducing their morbidity and mortality. This prospective pilot study evaluated the feasibility and exploratory diagnostic relevance of seismocardiography (SCG), a non-invasive technique that records vibrations induced by cardiac activity and blood flow at the sternal surface, in children undergoing pediatric cardiology evaluation. Median SCG waveforms were generated, and linear and rotational kinetic-energy-derived metrics were subsequently computed over ECG-defined cardiac phases. Ninety-two children (age 1 day–16 years; body surface area (BSA) 0.2–1.74 m²) were included: 38 controls, 18 with innocent murmurs and 36 with murmurs caused by CHD. Recordings met prespecified interpretability criteria in 84.8% of cases. Patients with congenital heart disease were younger and had lower weight and body surface area (BSA) (all p < 0.05). After adjustment for age and BSA, children with CHD presented increased SCG linear kinetic energy during the PQ phase (β = 0.80, p < 0.001) and increased rotational kinetic energy over the cardiac cycle (β = 0.56, p = 0.02), whereas children with innocent murmurs did not seem to differ from controls. Exploratory matched analyses suggested elevated rotational energy in ventricular septal defects and pulmonary stenosis, but not in atrial septal defects. These findings support the feasibility of SCG in pediatric cardiology and suggest mechanical signal features differ in some children with CHD. Larger validation studies are needed before diagnostic accuracy or clinical integration can be established.