The Apple Watch’s ECG feature can officially only indicate atrial fibrillation, but an anesthesiologist working at a California hospital says that it picked up on a critical heart disease so serious that he requires a bypass operation.

Dr. Donald W Milne from Antelope Valley Hospital shared the story with us and has also written to Tim Cook …

Milne said that detecting the critical heart disease early enough to treat it saved his life.

However a number of months ago  I was working out on an elliptical machine,  And I experienced more shortness of breath than usual for a workout.  I used the ECG function to take an ECG at that time.

I observed ST segment depression on the tracing. That resolved and returned to normal with rest. This was again documented by the tracings.

I had no history of any heart disease prior to this incident.

An appointment with my primary care physician obtained a resting ECG in her office that was normal. However upon showing the tracing with the ischemia she agreed and referred me to a cardiologist at John Muir Concord hospital .

He agreed as well with the assessment and upon having an angiogram yesterday the finding of critical diffuse coronary artery disease was found and I am now scheduled for a 5 vessel bypass and aortic valve replacement on July 13 2020.

It did rely on Milne being qualified to interpret the ECG reading to diagnose his health problem, but it was still impressive that a single-lead ECG provided enough data to allow him to do so.

The Apple Watch has clearly saved my life.

It’s of course not the first time we’ve read a report of the Apple Watch saving someone’s life, but it’s particularly compelling to hear a first-hand report from a board-certified doctor.

  • How Apple Watch saved one man’s life — and how it’s empowering him after his heart attack
  • Alabama woman says ‘no doubt’ Apple Watch atrial fibrillation detection saved her life
  • Apple Watch saves Brazilian man after heart alerts lead to life-threatening tachycardia diagnosis
  • Apple Watch fall detection helps save life of 92-year-old farmer after fall from a ladder
  • Reddit user says Apple Watch saved his life helping detect supraventricular tachycardia
  • Apple Watch fall detection saves New Jersey man after tumbling off cliff and breaking his back
  • Florida man who had ‘no idea what AFib was’ saved by Apple Watch during holiday travel
  • Teen says Apple Watch saved her life after heart rate alert led to uncovering kidney failure
  • Apple Watch prompts potentially life-saving heart surgery for 48-year-old dad
  • Apple Watch SOS saved a mom and her baby after a drunk driver hit their car
  • Apple Watch detects British dad’s heart condition, requiring surgery to avoid stroke or heart attack
  • Apple Watch again credited with saving a life as it leads New York man to discover erupted ulcer