Abstract TMP40: Impact of Age on Atrial Fibrillation Detection among a Large, Real-World Population of Cryptogenic Stroke Patients with Insertable Cardiac Monitors

Abstract

Introduction: Detection of atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with a cryptogenic stroke (CS) is critical for reducing the risk of recurrent stroke by enabling oral anticoagulation therapy. However, the impact of age on AF detection and the optimum duration of AF monitoring in patients following a CS is not well characterized. We investigated the impact of age on AF detection among a large, real-world cohort of unselected patients with an implantable cardiac monitor (ICM) placed following CS. Methods: Patients in the de-identified Medtronic Discovery™ Link database who received an ICM (Reveal LINQ™) for AF detection following CS were included and monitored for up to 182 days. All AF episodes were adjudicated. We compared the mean age between patients with vs. without AF detected and compared the median time to detection of the first AF episode between younger (age ≤65) and older (age >65) patients. Results: Among 1247 patients (mean age 65.3±13.0, 53% male) followed for 182 [IQR 182-182] days, 1521 AF episodes were detected in 147 patients and resulted in an AF detection rate of 12.2%. Patients with AF detected were significantly older than patients without AF detected (71.3±10.9 vs. 64.5±13.1 years, respectively; p<0.001). The median time to detection of the first AF episode was shorter for older vs. younger patients (43 [10-91] vs. 89 [29-127] days, respectively; p=0.016; Figure). Conclusion: Continuous monitoring of CS patients with an ICM resulted in an AF detection rate of 12.2% within the initial 6 months. Patients with AF detected were older and patients >65 years of age had shorter times to initial AF detection. However even among older patients, the majority of AF occurred outside the range of external monitoring devices and thus highlights the importance of long-term monitoring with ICMs in the management of CS patients.