Abstract 15967: Incidence of Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation in Cryptogenic Stroke in Young Adults - A 3 Year Implantable Loop Recorder Study

• Published in: Circulation (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2019-11, Vol.140 (Suppl_1 Suppl 1), p.A15967-A15967
• Main Authors: Sivakumar, Kalaivani, Hadgu, Alula, Sachdeva, Rajesh, Hirsh, David
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0009-7322; 1524-4539
• DOI: 10.1161/circ.140.suppl_1.15967

BackgroundAtrial fibrillation is a known frequent cause of ischemic stroke. Undetected paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) is thus often considered a possible cause of cryptogenic ischemic stroke (CIS). Several studies (CRYSTAL AF and EMBRACE study) have shown that the incidence of PAF in CIS is approximately 12-16% in patients who are elderly (>40 years and >50 years respectively). To date, there are no studies that have investigated the incidence of PAF in young adults (age ≤ 50) compared to older adults (age>50) with continuous long-term monitoring. The primary aim of this retrospective study was to estimate the incidence of PAF in young adults after implantation of loop recorder for CIS.MethodsOne hundred fifty-seven consecutive patients from Grady Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, who underwent loop recorder implantation for CIS between Oct 2014 to Oct 2018 were evaluated. Univariate and multivariate (logistic regression) was employed to study the association between PAF and demographic, behavioral and clinical variables.ResultsSeventy seven percent of the population were African Americans, 57% were males and 34%(53 patients) were 50 years old or younger. On univariate analysis, the incidence of PAF after loop recorder implantation among older and younger adults were 32.6% and 0.0%, respectively (p