Screening for undiagnosed atrial fibrillation to prevent stroke

Abstract

BACKGROUND: AF is a growing epidemic in the United States that will continue to worsen as risk factors become more prevalent in the population. The arrhythmia often persists asymptomatically before presenting as a stroke or when the disease has progressed to cause permanent cardiac restructuring. The gold standard for diagnosis is ECG. The current treatment consists of rate control, rate control, and stroke prevention with anticoagulation. LITERATURE REVIEW: Recent studies have shown that screening for AF does result in an increase in AF diagnosis. A current gap in literature remains regarding if that increase in AF diagnosis leads to a stroke reduction in the screened population. PROPOSED PROJECT: The proposed project is a randomized control trial that will compare AF diagnosis in a control group to a group that is screened for AF using a 30-day cardiac monitor. The statistical analysis will reveal if there is a reduction in stroke and other cardiac sequelae in the screened group compared to the control group. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Should the study reveal that screening for AF in an at-risk population reduces the risk of stroke, it could assist the USTF in addressing the gap in literature required to either recommend for or against AF screening in the United States.