Continuous monitoring ‘detects AF but fails to reduce stroke’
Use of an implantable monitor in high-risk patients disappoints in randomised trial, researchers find
AusDoc brings you the latest news from the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2021.
Continuous electrocardiographic monitoring using an implantable loop recorder (ILR) to detect ‘silent’ atrial fibrillation failed to prevent strokes in a randomised controlled trial, Danish researchers say.
Results from the LOOP study of elderly patients at high risk of stroke suggest that screening for asymptomatic AF may not be worth the trouble or clinical resources, they say.
Study author Dr Jesper Svendsen, from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark said that despite ILR leading to a threefold increase in AF detection and anticoagulation initiation, there was “no significant reduction in stroke or systemic arterial embolism”.
