Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation: Novel Strategies for Monitoring and Implications for Treatment in Stroke.

In cryptogenic stroke, prolonged cardiac monitoring is often employed to search for and diagnose atrial fibrillation (AF). Multiple monitoring modalities with multiple durations of monitoring exist. Finding atrial fibrillation after an ischemic stroke is extremely important as anticoagulation is the standard of care and results in the lowest stroke recurrence rate. The protocol at our institution is to carry out 30-day mobile cardiac outpatient telemetry (MCOT) in all patients with cryptogenic stroke. If this MCOT fails to reveal AF, yet the suspicion is high based on the presence of clinical, biochemical, electrocardiographic, and echocardiographic factors, we may proceed to use an implantable cardiac monitor. When AF is diagnosed after cryptogenic stroke, regardless of its duration and assuming no contraindications exist, anticoagulation is recommended with either warfarin or one of the DOACs (direct oral anticoagulants).