Temporal association between atrial fibrillation and ischemic stroke: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) is strongly associated with ischemic stroke. Continuous cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) can assess PAF episodes over prolonged periods. Studies that attempted to find a temporal association between PAF and ischemic stroke were inconclusive.

Is there a temporal relationship between atrial fibrillation and stroke? A review.

Importance: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an established risk factor for ischaemic stroke. The introduction of continuous cardiac rhythm monitoring devices has enabled detection of brief and asymptomatic episodes of AF.

Observations: The search yielded 727 studies, 11 of which met the inclusion criteria.

Assessment of inter-rater reliability of screening tools to identify patients at risk of medication-related problems across the emergency department continuum of care.

Background: Following a national multicentre study, two emergency department (ED) screening tools were developed to determine risk of medication-related problems; one for use at ED presentation and another at ED discharge to the community. This study aimed to determine the inter-rater reliability amongst ED health professionals when applying these screening tools to a series of case scenarios.

Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study was undertaken in the ED of a major metropolitan hospital.