Comparative clinical profiles and outcomes of prior vs. concurrently diagnosed atrial fibrillation in acute ischaemic stroke: the implication of diagnosis timing

Based on the diagnostic sequence in relation to stroke, a recent classification of atrial fibrillation (AF) categorizes AF into known AF (KAF) and AF detected after stroke or transient ischaemic attack (AFDAS). However, relatively little is known about AF ‘concurrently diagnosed with stroke’—perhaps the ‘grey zone’ of AF between KAF and AFDAS, which has been less characterized in terms of its resemblance to clinical characteristics and outcomes compared with AFDAS or KAF.

Patients with AF who were admitted for acute ischaemic stroke (IS) in 2010–20 were retrospectively reviewed. Clinical characteristics and net clinical outcome (NCO)—the composite of recurrent stroke, major bleeding, hospitalization or emergency department visits for cardiovascular events, and death—were compared between AF diagnosed before stroke (prior AF) and incident AF diagnosed concurrently with IS (AFDCS). A total of 720 patients with AF and acute IS (mean age, 72.5 ± 10.1 years; 60.3% male) were included: prior AF, 62.6% (n = 451), and AFDCS, 37.4% (n = 269). Prior AF presented with more prevalent diabetes, heart failure, vascular disease, and valvular heart disease than AFDCS (all P < 0.05). The AFDCS had a significantly higher left ventricular ejection fraction and smaller left atrial diameter than prior AF. During a median follow-up of 2.0 (interquartile range 0.6–4.6) years, AFDCS was associated with a lower risk of NCO than prior AF without significant differences in the risk of recurrent stroke: adjusted hazard ratio (95% confidence interval), 0.776 (0.611–0.986), P = 0.038 for NCO and 0.784 (0.450–1.365), P = 0.389 for recurrent stroke.

Prior AF and AFDCS have distinctive clinical profiles supporting AF is a disease of continuum according to its diagnostic vicinity to the IS. In terms of recurrent IS, AFDCS has a comparable risk with prior AF, indicating the importance of early detection and integrated management of AF for patients with IS.