Clinical practice of continuous rhythm monitoring after embolic stroke of undetermined source

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 19; no. 4; p. e0302404
• Main Authors: von Falkenhausen, Aenne Solvejg, Wischmann, Johannes, Keidel, Linus M., Kellnar, Antonia M., Thaler, Raffael, Lackermair, Korbinian, Estner, Heidi L., Höglinger, Günter, Massberg, Steffen, Kääb, Stefan, Kellert, Lars, Sinner, Moritz F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 17.04.2024; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Atrial fibrillation; Biology and Life Sciences; Cardiovascular instruments, Implanted; Causes of; Complications and side effects; Diagnosis; Electrocardiogram; Electrocardiography; Engineering and Technology; Health aspects; Health care industry; Implants, Artificial; Ischemia; Medicine and Health Sciences; Methods; People and Places; Prevention; Prosthesis; Stroke (Disease); Telemedicine; Germany
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302404

Embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS) accounts for up to 20% of ischemic strokes annually. Undetected atrial fibrillation (AF) is one important potential underlying cause. For AF, oral anticoagulation has evolved as the most preferable means of secondary stroke prevention. To detect unrecognized paroxysmal AF, long-term ECG monitoring is required, and implantable cardiac monitors (ICM) appear most suitable. Yet, ICMs are particularly costly, implantation is invasive, and remote monitoring places a personnel burden on health care providers. Here, we use data from a large cohort of ESUS patients to systematically analyze the effort of ICM remote monitoring for AF diagnosis and the strain on health care providers. From a prospective, single-center, observational ESUS registry, we analyzed all ICM-equipped patients post-ESUS (n = 172) between January 1st, 2018, and December 31st, 2019. Through January 2nd, 2023, 48 patients (27.9%) were diagnosed with AF by ICM remote monitoring. During follow-up, a total of 29,180 remote monitoring episodes were transmitted, of which 17,742 were alarms for AF. A systematic estimation of workload revealed that on average, 20.3 trained physician workhours are required to diagnose one patient with AF. ICM remote monitoring is useful to diagnose AF in cohort of post-ESUS patients. However, the number of ICM alarms is high, even in a cohort at known high risk of AF and in whom AF detection is therapeutically consequential. Improved automated event classification, clear recommendations for ICM interrogation after AF diagnosis, and a careful patient selection for ICM monitoring are warranted.