Biomarkers in prediction of post-stroke atrial fibrillation

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Assessment of biomarkers and incidence of atrial fibrillation post-stroke

  • IRAS ID

    316736

  • Contact name

    Gregory Lip

  • Contact email

    gregory.lip@liverpool.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    University of Liverpool

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 0 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    Strokes are commonly caused by blood clots occurring in the blood vessel which supplies part of the brain. One of the common reasons for blood clots to occur is the presence of an irregular heart rhythm or atrial fibrillation (AF). If identified early, treatment can be started to prevent future strokes. However, AF can be transient and therefore not detected easily. There are many methods to detect AF after a stroke event however, these require extra monitoring time and subsequent costs.

    Apart from clinical characteristics and the association of frailty and AF, blood markers have previously been shown to differ in patients with and without AF. This forms the basis of the study - to formulate a risk profile for patients presenting with stroke and identifying who would be at higher risk of AF and should have longer and more intensive investigations to look for AF.

    Patients presenting to the hospital following a stroke and recruited into the Huawei Stroke Study would qualify for the study. As part of the Huawei Stroke Study, participants would be monitored using wearable smart band for 4 weeks to identify AF. This sub-study will investigate biomarkers of clotting, inflammation and vascular function in these participants prior to discharge and at follow up. Additionally, markers of frailty will be assessed during admission. The results will be compared between participants who had AF and who did not to develop a risk score which could be used in the clinical setting to identify patients presenting with stroke who are at high risk of AF.

  • REC name

    North West - Greater Manchester Central Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    22/NW/0308

  • Date of REC Opinion

    31 Oct 2022

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion