Arrhythmias and conduction disturbances
Screening for Asymptomatic Atrial Fibrillation While Monitoring the Blood Pressure at Home: Trial of Regular Versus Irregular Pulse for Prevention of Stroke (TRIPPS 2.0)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjcard.2013.01.331Get rights and content

Asymptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common cause of strokes. Physician screening for AF has been recommended. Home screening for AF may increase the likelihood of detecting asymptomatic AF in patients at risk for stroke because of AF. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and accuracy of screening for AF when taking home blood pressure (BP) measurements using an automatic AF-detecting BP monitor. Subjects aged >64 years or those with hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure, or previous stroke were enrolled by their primary physicians and given the AF-BP monitor and an electrocardiographic event monitor to use at home for 30 days. The AF-BP monitor reading was compared with the electrocardiographic reading to calculate the sensitivity and specificity of the device for detecting AF. A total of 160 subjects were enrolled, with 10 withdrawing, 1 excluded, and 10 with no AF-BP monitor logs or electrocardiographic recordings. Of the 139 subjects included, 14 had known AF. There was a total of 3,316 days with AF-BP monitor readings and electrocardiographic readings. On the basis of the initial daily AF-BP monitor readings, the AF-BP monitor demonstrated sensitivity of 99.2% and specificity of 92.9% for detecting AF. Two subjects with no histories of AF had AF-BP monitor readings of AF that were confirmed by the electrocardiographic monitor. One of these subjects was started on warfarin. In conclusion, home screening for asymptomatic AF while taking BP measurements can be performed accurately. This can be used to detect new AF, allowing treatment with anticoagulation to reduce the future risk for stroke.

Section snippets

Methods

The Microlife BP monitor (model BPM BP3MQ1-2D; Microlife USA, Inc., Dunedin, Florida) has an algorithm that detects AF by analyzing the standard deviation and mean of the pulse beat intervals.4 To determine the applicability of home monitoring for AF in a general medical population at risk for stroke because of AF, subjects were recruited from general internists' offices. Included patients met ≥1 of the following criteria: age ≥65 years, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, congestive heart

Results

A total of 160 subjects were enrolled in the trial. Ten subjects withdrew from the study before recording any electrocardiographic or AF-BP monitor readings. One subject did not record any electrocardiographic readings, and 1 subject with a pacemaker was erroneously enrolled in the trial. Nine subjects did not record logs of their AF-BP monitor readings. Data analysis was based on the remaining 139 subjects who had ≥1 AF-BP monitor reading documented with a comparative electrocardiographic

Discussion

Home BP monitoring with the Microlife BP monitor with a novel algorithm designed to detect AF was able to detect new AF in this trial. New AF was found in 2 subjects, 1 of whom was started on warfarin by her physician. The AF-BP monitor was found to have high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing AF. In addition, the sensitivity and specificity for individual AF-BP monitor readings at home were comparable with the results obtained by the device when used in medical clinics. Although

Acknowledgment

We thank Cheryl Fruchter for assistance with data collection.

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This study was funded by Microlife USA, Inc., Dunedin, Florida.

See page 1601 for disclosure information.

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