Cardiac Monitoring for Atrial Fibrillation in Cryptogenic Stroke

Despite an extensive initial evaluation, the cause of up to a third of ischemic strokes remains undetermined. The detection of atrial fibrillation (AF) in these patients with cryptogenic stroke is critical as the diagnosis of AF would warrant anticoagulation to reduce the risk of recurrent stroke. Observational studies and prospective randomized controlled trials have shown that a substantial proportion of patients with cryptogenic stroke have AF detected by post-stroke cardiac monitoring with higher AF detection rates observed with longer monitoring periods.