Screening for atrial fibrillation and timely initiation of oral anticoagulation, rhythm management, and treatment of concomitant cardiovascular conditions can improve outcomes in high-risk populations.

The multicenter, international, investigator-initiated, single-arm case-finding Smartphone and wearable detected atrial arrhythmia in older adults case finding study (Smart in OAC – AFNET 9) evaluates the diagnostic yield of a validated, cloud-based analysis algorithm detecting atrial arrhythmias via a signal acquired by a smartphone-coupled with Corsano Health’s CardioWatch 287 wristband monitoring system in older adults. Unselected participants aged ≥65 years without known atrial fibrillation and not receiving oral anticoagulation are enrolled in three European countries. Participants undergo continuous pulse monitoring using a wristband with a photo plethysmography (PPG) sensor and a telecare analytic service. Participants with PPG-detected atrial arrhythmias will be offered ECG loop monitoring. The study has a virtual design with digital consent and teleconsultations, whilst including hybrid solutions. Primary outcome is the proportion of older adults with newly detected atrial arrhythmias.

L Fabritz ^1,2,3,4 *, DL Connolly ^4,5, E Czarnecki 6, D Dudek ^7,8, A Zlahoda-Huzior ^9, E Guasch ^10,11,12, D Haase ⁶, T Huebner ¹³, , K Jolly ¹⁴, P Kirchhof ^2,3,4,6, U Schotten ^6,15, A Zapf ¹⁶, and RB Schnabel ^2,3,6

1. University Center of Cardiovascular Science, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
2. Department of Cardiology, University Heart and Vascular Center Hamburg, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
3. German Center for Cardiovascular Research, Partner Site Hamburg/Luebeck/Kiel, Berlin, Germany
4. Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
5. Department of Cardiology and R&D, Birmingham City Hospital, Sandwell and West Birmingham Trust, Birmingham, United Kingdom
6. Atrial Fibrillation NETwork, Münster, Germany
7. Institute of Cardiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland
8. Maria Cecilia Hospital, GVM Care & Research, Ravennna, Italy
9. Department of Measurement and Electronics, AGH University of Science and Technology, Krakow, Poland
10. Institut Clínic Cardio-Vascular, Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
11. August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain
12. Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Enfermedades Cardiovasculares, Madrid, Spain
13. Preventicus GmbH, Jena, Germany
14. Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
15. Department of Physiology, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, Netherlands
16. Institute of Medical Biometry and Epidemiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany

Front. Cardiovasc. Med., 21 March 2022.  Sec. Cardiac Rhythmology
Volume 9 - 2022 |https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2022.839202