Early prolonged ambulatory cardiac monitoring in stroke (EPACS): an open-label randomised controlled trial

Table 3 Characteristics of the patients with and without atrial fibrillation detected by the patch-based monitoring

Characteristic	Patients with atrial fibrillation (n = 7)	Patients without atrial fibrillation (n = 36)	P value
Age, year	77.4 ± 6.1	68.6 ± 14.6	0.02
Male, no. (%)	4 (57.1)	22 (61.1)	1.00
Index event, no. (%)
Stroke	5 (71.4)	30 (83.3)	0.60
TIA	2 (28.6)	6 (16.7)
Prior stroke or TIA, no. (%)	2 (28.6)	10 (27.8)	1.00
Hypertension, no. (%)	6 (85.7)	20 (55.6)	0.22
Diabetes, no. (%)	1 (14.3)	9 (25.0)	1.00
History of ischaemic heart disease, no. (%)	4 (57.1)	4 (11.1)	0.02
Smoking status, no. (%)
Ex-smoker	4 (57.1)	8 (22.2)	0.10
Current smoker	0 (0)	6 (16.7)
CHADS₂VASc₂ score, no. (%)^a	5.0 ± 0.6	4.3 ± 1.2	0.03
No. of days from index event to randomisation	2.3 ± 2.3	2.0 ± 1.0	0.73
Echocardiographic parameters^b
Left atrial enlargement^c	6 (85.7)	11 (39.2)	0.04
Left ventricular ejection fraction (%)	53.2 ± 4.5	53.3 ± 4.3	0.94
Arrhythmia detection on patch-based monitoring
Detection of VT	5 (71.4)	10 (27.8)	0.04
Number of episodes of VT	1.1 ± 0.9	1.3 ± 3.5	0.81
Detection of VEs	7 (100)	35 (97.2)	1.00
Percentage of total beats as VEs	3.4 ± 1.7	8.2 ± 10.5	0.44
Detection of SVEs	7 (100)	36 (100)	–
Percentage of total beats as SVEs	3.1 ± 1.8	3.0 ± 2.9	0.97
Detection of SVT	5 (83.3)	27 (75.0)	1.00
Number of SVT episodes	53.2 ± 63.2	16.4 ± 25.4	0.22

Plus–minus values are mean ± SD. P values were calculated with the use of Student’s t test, Wilcoxon Mann–Whitney Rank-Sum test or Fisher’s exact test, as appropriate. TIA denotes transient ischaemic attack
SVE supraventricular ectopics, SVT supraventricular tachycardia, TIA transient ischaemic attack, VE ventricular ectopics, VT ventricular tachycardia
^aScores on the CHADS₂VASc₂ risk assessment range from 0 to 6, with higher scores indicating a greater risk of stroke
^bTransthoracic echocardiography and/or transoesophageal echocardiography was performed in 6 and 28 patients in the PAF and non-PAF groups, respectively
^cLeft atrial enlargement was defined as left atrial diameter ≥ 40 mm or left atrial volume index ≥ 29 mL/m²

ISSN: 2047-783X