Very Brief Atrial Fibrillation Episodes Unlikely to Increase the Risk for Stroke

It is clear that AF increases the risk for systemic embolic events (SEE, including stroke), but whether the increased risk depends on a threshold density of AF is uncertain. Several studies have demonstrated an increased risk for SEE with AF lasting >5 minutes. To clarify whether shorter episodes of AF were also associated with SEE, the current researchers examined data from the manufacturer-sponsored RATE registry, which prospectively enrolled 5379 patients with dual-chamber permanent pacemakers (PPMs) or implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs).

Short AF episodes were defined as those that were entirely captured in a single electrogram tracing (various devices record different timeframes, but in general short episodes last <10 to 20 …