TY - JOUR
T1 - Atrial fibrillation detected by continuous electrocardiographic monitoring using implantable loop recorder to prevent stroke in individuals at risk (the LOOP study)
T2 - Rationale and design of a large randomized controlled trial
AU - Diederichsen, Søren Zöga
AU - Haugan, Ketil Jørgen
AU - Køber, Lars
AU - Højberg, Søren
AU - Brandes, Axel
AU - Kronborg, Christian
AU - Graff, Claus
AU - Holst, Anders Gaarsdal
AU - Nielsen, Jonas Bille
AU - Krieger, Derk
AU - Svendsen, Jesper Hastrup
N1 - Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
PY - 2017/5/1
Y1 - 2017/5/1
N2 - Atrial fibrillation (AF) increases the rate of stroke 5-fold, and AF-related strokes have a poorer prognosis compared with non-AF-related strokes. Atrial fibrillation and stroke constitute an intensifying challenge, and health care organizations are calling for awareness on the topic. Previous studies have demonstrated that AF is often asymptomatic and consequently undiagnosed. The implantable loop recorder (ILR) allows for continuous, long-term electrocardiographic monitoring with daily transmission of arrhythmia information, potentially leading to improvement in AF detection and stroke prevention.METHODS: The LOOP study is an investigator-initiated, randomized controlled trial with 6,000 participants randomized 3:1 to a control group or to receive an ILR with continuous electrocardiographic monitoring. Participants are identified from Danish registries and are eligible for inclusion if 70years or older and previously diagnosed as having at least one of the following conditions: hypertension, diabetes mellitus, heart failure, or previous stroke. Exclusion criteria include history of AF and current oral anticoagulation treatment. When an AF episode lasting ≥6minutes is detected, oral anticoagulation will be initiated according to guidelines. Expected follow-up is 4years. The primary end point is time to stroke or systemic embolism, whereas secondary end points include time to AF diagnosis and death.CONCLUSION: The LOOP study will evaluate health benefits and cost-effectiveness of ILR as a screening tool for AF to prevent stroke in patients at risk. Secondary objectives include identification of risk factors for the development of AF and characterization of arrhythmias in the population. The trial holds the potential to influence the future of stroke prevention.
AB - Atrial fibrillation (AF) increases the rate of stroke 5-fold, and AF-related strokes have a poorer prognosis compared with non-AF-related strokes. Atrial fibrillation and stroke constitute an intensifying challenge, and health care organizations are calling for awareness on the topic. Previous studies have demonstrated that AF is often asymptomatic and consequently undiagnosed. The implantable loop recorder (ILR) allows for continuous, long-term electrocardiographic monitoring with daily transmission of arrhythmia information, potentially leading to improvement in AF detection and stroke prevention.METHODS: The LOOP study is an investigator-initiated, randomized controlled trial with 6,000 participants randomized 3:1 to a control group or to receive an ILR with continuous electrocardiographic monitoring. Participants are identified from Danish registries and are eligible for inclusion if 70years or older and previously diagnosed as having at least one of the following conditions: hypertension, diabetes mellitus, heart failure, or previous stroke. Exclusion criteria include history of AF and current oral anticoagulation treatment. When an AF episode lasting ≥6minutes is detected, oral anticoagulation will be initiated according to guidelines. Expected follow-up is 4years. The primary end point is time to stroke or systemic embolism, whereas secondary end points include time to AF diagnosis and death.CONCLUSION: The LOOP study will evaluate health benefits and cost-effectiveness of ILR as a screening tool for AF to prevent stroke in patients at risk. Secondary objectives include identification of risk factors for the development of AF and characterization of arrhythmias in the population. The trial holds the potential to influence the future of stroke prevention.
KW - Aged
KW - Aged, 80 and over
KW - Atrial Fibrillation
KW - Cognition Disorders
KW - Cost-Benefit Analysis
KW - Electrocardiography, Ambulatory
KW - Female
KW - Humans
KW - Male
KW - Quality of Life
KW - Research Design
KW - Risk Factors
KW - Stroke
KW - Journal Article
KW - Multicenter Study
KW - Randomized Controlled Trial
U2 - 10.1016/j.ahj.2017.02.017
DO - 10.1016/j.ahj.2017.02.017
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 28454796
SN - 0002-8703
VL - 187
SP - 122
EP - 132
JO - American Heart Journal
JF - American Heart Journal
ER -