J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis
November 2013
Background: It is unclear if brief episodes of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) detected by prolonged cardiac monitoring are an occult of cause of cryptogenic strokes (CS). We compared the incidence of PAF in patients with CS and patients with stroke of known cause (SKC) using prolonged ambulatory cardiac monitoring.
Methods: We prospectively enrolled patients within 3 months of ischemic stroke to undergo noninvasive cardiac monitoring for 3 weeks.