Second look Holter ECG in neurorehabilitation.

Background: Many stroke survivors suffer recurrent stroke because paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) was missed and no preventive anticoagulation initiated. This prospective cohort study determined the added diagnostic yield of second-look 24-h electrocardiographic recording (ECG) in a population at high risk for AF: patients who suffered a stroke of such severity that they require inpatient neurorehabilitation.

Methods: We enrolled 508 patients with ischemic stroke admitted to post-acute inpatient neurorehabilitation and determined whether AF was detected during acute care at the referring hospital. Second-look baseline and 24-h Holter ECG were then conducted during neurorehabilitation. Primary outcome was number of newly detected AF with duration of > 30 s; secondary outcomes were number of newly detected absolute arrhythmia of 10-30 s and < 10 s duration. For comparison, we further enrolled 100 patients with hemorrhagic stroke without history of AF (age = 72 + 11 years, 51% female).

Results: In 206 of the 508 ischemic stroke patients, AF had been detected during acute phase work-up (age = 78 + 10 years, 55% female). For the remaining 302 ischemic stroke patients, no AF was detected during acute phase work-up (age = 74 + 9 years; 47% female). Second-look 24-h ECG showed previously missed AF of > 30 s in 20 of these patients, i.e. 6.6% of the sample, and shorter absolute arrhythmia in 50 patients (i.e. 16.5%).

Conclusions: Second-look 24-Hour ECG performed during post-acute inpatient neurorehabilitation has a high diagnostic yield and should become a standard component of recurrent stroke prevention.