A study conducted by the Duke Clinical Research Institute revealed that wearable, long-term continuous heart monitors were able to identify 52% more cases of atrial fibrillation compared to standard care. This is a significant advancement that has the potential to revolutionize cardiovascular health monitoring.
The findings, presented at the European Society of Cardiology meeting and published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, highlight the potential of these monitors to detect atrial fibrillation early on. Despite this promising development, the study was unfortunately cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing it from reaching conclusive results on the reduction of stroke rates.
This research underscores the importance of continuous heart monitoring and its potential to transform the way we approach cardiovascular health.
“Atrial fibrillation is often undiagnosed and can increase the risk of ischemic stroke, which is largely reversible by oral anticoagulation,” said lead author Renato Lopes, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of medicine and member of the Duke Clinical Research Institute.
“We still need definitive evidence that diagnosis of atrial fibrillation through systematic screening can lead to subsequent treatment with oral anticoagulation and, therefore, lower stroke risk,” Lopes said.
The groundbreaking study involved over 12,000 elderly patients in the U.S. without a history of atrial fibrillation. Half of the participants were chosen to use a long-term continuous monitoring device for 14 days, while the other half received usual care.
During the 15-month follow-up period, the study revealed a 52% increase in the detection of atrial fibrillation cases among the device users compared to those receiving usual care. Importantly, there was no rise in hospitalizations due to bleeding and no significant decrease in the rate of hospitalizations for all strokes compared to usual care.
Originally aiming to involve 52,000 patients, the study’s power could have been used to determine if screening reduces the incidence of strokes. This extensive sample size is crucial as strokes are a subset of patients with atrial fibrillation.
“Despite the inconclusive results, we have a lot of lessons learned that might inform future studies,” Lopes said.
He emphasized that the study’s innovative design, allowing patients to conveniently enroll and undergo screening online in a virtual format while self-applying patch devices in the comfort of their homes with remote support, sets a promising precedent for future studies.
Journal reference:
- Renato D. Lopes, Steven J. Atlas, Alan S. Go,Steven A. Lubitz, David D. McManus, Rowena J. Dolor, Ranee Chatterjee, Michael B. Rothberg, David R. Rushlow, Lori A. Crosson, Ronald S. Aronson, Michael Patlakh, Dianne Gallup, Donna J. Mills, Emily C. O’Brien, Daniel E. Singer. Effect of Screening for Undiagnosed Atrial Fibrillation on Stroke Prevention. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2024; DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2024.08.019