A Cross Sectional Study of Atrial Fibrillation Prevalence and Associated Cardiac Arrhythmias in Stroke Patients: Insights from Commercial Data Archives (Preprint)

Abstract

The link between atrial fibrillation (AF) and stroke has gained attention due to AF's significant impact on stroke risk. Detecting AF, especially paroxysmal AF, presents challenges, highlighting the necessity for continuous Holter monitoring.

In our investigation, we utilized commercial data archives to examine AF prevalence and associated cardiac arrhythmias among stroke patients and controls. We also analyzed various factors, such as age, gender, symptoms, test duration, and duration post-stroke, to identify predictors of arrhythmias and enhance paroxysmal detection rates.

We included 98 stroke patients and 98 controls for comparing AF prevalence within 72 hours post-stroke and analyzed 779 stroke patients within 4 days to 10 weeks post-stroke.

Our findings revealed a higher AF detection rate in stroke patients compared to controls, with AF being the most prevalent arrhythmia observed. Older age and symptom presence were associated with significant findings, particularly AF. Temporal analysis showed a negative correlation between AF and complete heart block occurrence over time, while ventricular tachycardia exhibited a positive correlation. Paroxysmal fibrillation detection rates were highest within the initial month, with the optimal duration of Holter monitoring being 10 days, underscoring the importance of extended monitoring for detecting paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

Detecting paroxysmal atrial fibrillation could influence stroke management. Furthermore, our study suggests the potential utility of commercial data in yielding comparable outcomes to research data.