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Over an 18-month period, small, insertable cardiac monitors detected atrial fibrillation in 29% of previously undiagnosed patients who were at high risk of both AF and stroke, and in 40% of patients over 30 months, according to investigators. The study was presented at the annual congress of the European Society of Cardiology and simultaneously published in JAMA Cardiology.
More than half (56%) of patients consequently started oral anticoagulation therapy, noted James A. Reiffel, MD, of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, with his associates, for the REVEAL AF investigators.
“The incidence of previously undiagnosed atrial fibrillation may be substantial in patients with risk factors for AF and stroke,” they concluded. “Atrial fibrillation would have gone undetected in most patients had monitoring been limited to 30 days. Further trials regarding the value of detecting subclinical AF and of prophylactic therapies are warranted.”
Atrial fibrillation affects millions worldwide and is associated with older age, hypertension, diabetes, and heart failure, all of which also independently increase the risk of stroke. Minimally invasive prolonged electrocardiographic monitoring with insertable cardiac monitors might help hasten detection and treatment of AF, but diagnostic yield in high-risk patients has been unclear.
In this single-arm, multicenter, prospective study, researchers inserted Reveal XT or Reveal LINQ (Medtronic) cardiac monitors in 385 adults who had either CHAD2 scores of 3, or CHAD2 scores of 2 and one additional risk factor for AF, such as coronary artery disease, sleep apnea, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or renal insufficiency. The primary endpoint was AF lasting at least 6 minutes (JAMA Cardiol. 2017 Aug 26. doi: 10.1001/jamacardio.2017.3180). Median follow-up time was 22.5 months. Rates of detecting AF were 6% at 30 days compared with 20% at 6 months, 27% at 12 months, 34% at 24 months, and 40% at 30 months. Patients typically had their first AF episode about 4 months (median, 123 days) after the device was inserted. Among patients who had experienced AF by 18 months, 10% had one or more episodes lasting at least 24 hours, and 72 (56%) were prescribed oral anticoagulation therapy.
The recent PREDATE AF and ASSERT-II studies also found that previously undiagnosed AF was common among high-risk patients, the researchers noted. However, whether anticoagulating patients who have only brief episodes of AF significantly reduces their risk of stroke remains unclear, they added. Three trials (ARTESiA, NOAH, and LOOP) are underway to assess whether oral anticoagulation therapy improves outcomes in patients with device-detected AF.
Medtronic funded the study. Dr. Reiffel and five coinvestigators disclosed consulting for and receiving “modest honoraria” from Medtronic. Two other coinvestigators reported employment with and stock ownership in Medtronic.
The availability of safe and effective oral anticoagulant therapy makes the findings of REVEAL AF highly relevant. This high rate of incident AF makes ICM-based screenings of high-risk individuals a potentially attractive stroke prevention strategy. More detailed subgroup analyses may help identify a patient population with an even higher risk of developing AF. It is also conceivable that this population could have a sufficiently high risk of AF and stroke that a strategy of empiric oral anticoagulation, without the need for AF monitoring, could prove beneficial.
The REVEAL AF study has shown that AF is extremely common among older individuals with stroke risk factors. Over the next 3-4 years, subgroup analyses, economic evaluations, and randomized clinical trials will help determine if this insight can be translated into a cost-effective stroke prevention strategy for high-risk individuals.
Jeff S. Healey, MD, MSc, is at the Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont. He is the principal investigator of the ASSERT-II and ARTESiA trials, and had no other relevant disclosures. These comments are from his editorial (JAMA Cardiol. 2017 Aug 26. doi: 10.1001/jamacardio.2017.3203).
The availability of safe and effective oral anticoagulant therapy makes the findings of REVEAL AF highly relevant. This high rate of incident AF makes ICM-based screenings of high-risk individuals a potentially attractive stroke prevention strategy. More detailed subgroup analyses may help identify a patient population with an even higher risk of developing AF. It is also conceivable that this population could have a sufficiently high risk of AF and stroke that a strategy of empiric oral anticoagulation, without the need for AF monitoring, could prove beneficial.
The REVEAL AF study has shown that AF is extremely common among older individuals with stroke risk factors. Over the next 3-4 years, subgroup analyses, economic evaluations, and randomized clinical trials will help determine if this insight can be translated into a cost-effective stroke prevention strategy for high-risk individuals.
Jeff S. Healey, MD, MSc, is at the Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont. He is the principal investigator of the ASSERT-II and ARTESiA trials, and had no other relevant disclosures. These comments are from his editorial (JAMA Cardiol. 2017 Aug 26. doi: 10.1001/jamacardio.2017.3203).
The availability of safe and effective oral anticoagulant therapy makes the findings of REVEAL AF highly relevant. This high rate of incident AF makes ICM-based screenings of high-risk individuals a potentially attractive stroke prevention strategy. More detailed subgroup analyses may help identify a patient population with an even higher risk of developing AF. It is also conceivable that this population could have a sufficiently high risk of AF and stroke that a strategy of empiric oral anticoagulation, without the need for AF monitoring, could prove beneficial.
The REVEAL AF study has shown that AF is extremely common among older individuals with stroke risk factors. Over the next 3-4 years, subgroup analyses, economic evaluations, and randomized clinical trials will help determine if this insight can be translated into a cost-effective stroke prevention strategy for high-risk individuals.
Jeff S. Healey, MD, MSc, is at the Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont. He is the principal investigator of the ASSERT-II and ARTESiA trials, and had no other relevant disclosures. These comments are from his editorial (JAMA Cardiol. 2017 Aug 26. doi: 10.1001/jamacardio.2017.3203).
Over an 18-month period, small, insertable cardiac monitors detected atrial fibrillation in 29% of previously undiagnosed patients who were at high risk of both AF and stroke, and in 40% of patients over 30 months, according to investigators. The study was presented at the annual congress of the European Society of Cardiology and simultaneously published in JAMA Cardiology.
More than half (56%) of patients consequently started oral anticoagulation therapy, noted James A. Reiffel, MD, of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, with his associates, for the REVEAL AF investigators.
“The incidence of previously undiagnosed atrial fibrillation may be substantial in patients with risk factors for AF and stroke,” they concluded. “Atrial fibrillation would have gone undetected in most patients had monitoring been limited to 30 days. Further trials regarding the value of detecting subclinical AF and of prophylactic therapies are warranted.”
Atrial fibrillation affects millions worldwide and is associated with older age, hypertension, diabetes, and heart failure, all of which also independently increase the risk of stroke. Minimally invasive prolonged electrocardiographic monitoring with insertable cardiac monitors might help hasten detection and treatment of AF, but diagnostic yield in high-risk patients has been unclear.
In this single-arm, multicenter, prospective study, researchers inserted Reveal XT or Reveal LINQ (Medtronic) cardiac monitors in 385 adults who had either CHAD2 scores of 3, or CHAD2 scores of 2 and one additional risk factor for AF, such as coronary artery disease, sleep apnea, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or renal insufficiency. The primary endpoint was AF lasting at least 6 minutes (JAMA Cardiol. 2017 Aug 26. doi: 10.1001/jamacardio.2017.3180). Median follow-up time was 22.5 months. Rates of detecting AF were 6% at 30 days compared with 20% at 6 months, 27% at 12 months, 34% at 24 months, and 40% at 30 months. Patients typically had their first AF episode about 4 months (median, 123 days) after the device was inserted. Among patients who had experienced AF by 18 months, 10% had one or more episodes lasting at least 24 hours, and 72 (56%) were prescribed oral anticoagulation therapy.
The recent PREDATE AF and ASSERT-II studies also found that previously undiagnosed AF was common among high-risk patients, the researchers noted. However, whether anticoagulating patients who have only brief episodes of AF significantly reduces their risk of stroke remains unclear, they added. Three trials (ARTESiA, NOAH, and LOOP) are underway to assess whether oral anticoagulation therapy improves outcomes in patients with device-detected AF.
Medtronic funded the study. Dr. Reiffel and five coinvestigators disclosed consulting for and receiving “modest honoraria” from Medtronic. Two other coinvestigators reported employment with and stock ownership in Medtronic.
Over an 18-month period, small, insertable cardiac monitors detected atrial fibrillation in 29% of previously undiagnosed patients who were at high risk of both AF and stroke, and in 40% of patients over 30 months, according to investigators. The study was presented at the annual congress of the European Society of Cardiology and simultaneously published in JAMA Cardiology.
More than half (56%) of patients consequently started oral anticoagulation therapy, noted James A. Reiffel, MD, of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, with his associates, for the REVEAL AF investigators.
“The incidence of previously undiagnosed atrial fibrillation may be substantial in patients with risk factors for AF and stroke,” they concluded. “Atrial fibrillation would have gone undetected in most patients had monitoring been limited to 30 days. Further trials regarding the value of detecting subclinical AF and of prophylactic therapies are warranted.”
Atrial fibrillation affects millions worldwide and is associated with older age, hypertension, diabetes, and heart failure, all of which also independently increase the risk of stroke. Minimally invasive prolonged electrocardiographic monitoring with insertable cardiac monitors might help hasten detection and treatment of AF, but diagnostic yield in high-risk patients has been unclear.
In this single-arm, multicenter, prospective study, researchers inserted Reveal XT or Reveal LINQ (Medtronic) cardiac monitors in 385 adults who had either CHAD2 scores of 3, or CHAD2 scores of 2 and one additional risk factor for AF, such as coronary artery disease, sleep apnea, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or renal insufficiency. The primary endpoint was AF lasting at least 6 minutes (JAMA Cardiol. 2017 Aug 26. doi: 10.1001/jamacardio.2017.3180). Median follow-up time was 22.5 months. Rates of detecting AF were 6% at 30 days compared with 20% at 6 months, 27% at 12 months, 34% at 24 months, and 40% at 30 months. Patients typically had their first AF episode about 4 months (median, 123 days) after the device was inserted. Among patients who had experienced AF by 18 months, 10% had one or more episodes lasting at least 24 hours, and 72 (56%) were prescribed oral anticoagulation therapy.
The recent PREDATE AF and ASSERT-II studies also found that previously undiagnosed AF was common among high-risk patients, the researchers noted. However, whether anticoagulating patients who have only brief episodes of AF significantly reduces their risk of stroke remains unclear, they added. Three trials (ARTESiA, NOAH, and LOOP) are underway to assess whether oral anticoagulation therapy improves outcomes in patients with device-detected AF.
Medtronic funded the study. Dr. Reiffel and five coinvestigators disclosed consulting for and receiving “modest honoraria” from Medtronic. Two other coinvestigators reported employment with and stock ownership in Medtronic.
FROM THE ESC CONGRESS 2017
Key clinical point: Undiagnosed atrial fibrillation is common in high-risk patients.
Major finding: At 18 months, 29% of previously undiagnosed, high-risk patients had experienced atrial fibrillation lasting 6 or more minutes.
Data source: A single-arm, prospective, multicenter study of 446 patients with a CHADS2 score of at least 3, or a CHADS2 score of at least 2 plus at least one other risk factor (coronary artery disease, sleep apnea, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or renal insufficiency).
Disclosures: Medtronic funded the study. Dr. Reiffel and five coinvestigators disclosed consulting for and receiving “modest honoraria” from Medtronic. Two other coinvestigators reported employment with and stock ownership in Medtronic.