Identifying Atrial Fibrillation After Stroke: When and How?

At some point during poststroke monitoring, almost one quarter of patients received diagnoses of AF.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the leading cause of cardioembolic stroke. Given that AF patients benefit from anticoagulation, identifying this cardiac condition as the cause of a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) is particularly important. Methods of screening for AF include electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring, Holter monitoring, and extended use of external loop or implanted recorders. Investigators performed a meta-analysis of 50 studies (including 11,658 patients) to evaluate four sequential stages of poststroke monitoring for AF: Acute ECG in the emergency department (phase 1); inpatient ECG, telemetry, and Holter monitoring (phase 2); outpatient Holter monitoring (phase 3); and long-term evaluation with a loop recorder or implante…

Reviewing Author

Seemant Chaturvedi, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardBayer Pharmaceuticals; Novartis

Grant/Research SupportNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Editorial BoardsNeurology; Stroke

Seemant Chaturvedi, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardBayer Pharmaceuticals; Novartis

Grant/Research SupportNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Editorial BoardsNeurology; Stroke

Identifying Atrial Fibrillation After Stroke: When and How?

Topics

Reviewing Author