Detection of occult paroxysmal atrial fibrilation by implantable long-term electrocardiographic monitoring in cryptogenic stroke and transient ischemic attack population: a study protocol for prospective matched cohort study

• Published in: BMC cardiovascular disorders Vol. 15; no. 1; p. 160
• Main Authors: Petrovičová, Andrea, Kurča, Egon, Brozman, Miroslav, Hasilla, Jozef, Vahala, Pavel, Blaško, Peter, Andrášová, Andrea, Hatala, Robert, Urban, Luboš, Sivák, Štefan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 03.12.2015; BioMed Central
• Subjects: Atrial fibrillation; Atrial Fibrillation - diagnosis; Cerebral ischemia; Development and progression; Electrocardiogram; Electrocardiography; Electrocardiography, Ambulatory - methods; Gene mutations; Genetic aspects; Homeobox Protein PITX2; Homeodomain Proteins - genetics; Humans; Implants, Artificial; Ischemic Attack, Transient - complications; Ischemic Attack, Transient - genetics; Matched-Pair Analysis; Mutation; Patient compliance; Prospective Studies; Prosthesis; Stroke (Disease); Stroke - complications; Stroke - genetics; Study Protocol; Transcription Factors - genetics
• ISSN: 1471-2261; 1471-2261
• DOI: 10.1186/s12872-015-0160-8

Cardio-embolic etiology is the most frequently predicted cause of cryptogenic stroke/TIA. Detection of occult paroxysmal atrial fibrillation is crucial for selection of appropriate medication. Enrolment of eligible cryptogenic stroke and TIA patients began in 2014 and will continue until 2018. The patients undergo long-term (12 months) ECG monitoring (implantable loop recorder) and testing for PITX2 (chromosome 4q25) and ZFHX3 (chromosome 16q22) gene mutations. There will be an appropriate control group of age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers. To analyse the results descriptive statistics, statistical tests for group differences, and correlation analyses will be used. In our study we are focusing on a possible correlation between detection of atrial fibrillation by an implantable ECG recorder, and PITX2 and/or ZFHX3 gene mutations in cryptogenic stroke/TIA patients. A correlation could lead to implementation of this genomic approach to cryptogenic stroke/TIA diagnostics and management. The results will be published in 2018. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02216370 .