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Smartwatch and External Holter Monitoring to Detect Atrial Fibrillation in Patients With Cryptogenic Stroke

Impact of Non-invasive Remote Monitoring Via Wearable Technologies for Detection of Atrial Fibrillation in Patients With Cryptogenic Stroke

Status
Recruiting
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05565781
Acronym
SMARTTHUNDER
Enrollment
100
Registered
2022-10-04
Start date
2022-03-28
Completion date
2026-09-01
Last updated
2025-04-04

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Cryptogenic Stroke, Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation

Keywords

Wearable Electronic Devices

Brief summary

Stroke recurrence largely depends on the detection of the cause and the control of vascular risk factors, with occult atrial fibrillation (AF) being one of the most important. Prolonged ambulatory cardiac monitoring is recommended for detecting occult AF. Currently, there are non-invasive monitoring devices such as the textile Holter that have proven to be useful for monitoring for up to 30 days but not longer. Another alternative is smartwatches, although they must be validated for use in the elderly population who have had a stroke.

Detailed description

The primary objective is to demonstrate that the protocol of ambulatory cardiac monitoring with wearable devices for 12 months allows detection of a higher percentage of occult AF than monitoring for 30 days. The secondary objectives will be to demonstrate the internal validity of smartwatches against insertable cardiac recorders for the detection of AF. To evaluate the usability and adherence to the use of smartwatches in patients with stroke. Detect predictors that can help detect long-term occult AF. Determine the profile of vascular events in each group. Detect predictors of vascular recurrence defined as stroke recurrence, incidence of cerebral hemorrhage, heart failure, myocardial infarction or vascular death.

Interventions

DEVICEECG smartwatch

Testing ECG smartwatch to detect AF or potential signs of AF

DEVICEInsertable Cardiac Monitor (ICM)

Gold-standard cardiac monitor for comparison of testing device (ECG smartwatch)

DEVICEExternal ECG Monitoring

Regular cardiac monitor for diagnosis of AF

Sponsors

Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron Research Institute
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SCREENING
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
55 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Age greater to or equal to 55 years * Patients with diagnosis of cryptogenic stroke after a basic study that included neuroimaging, extra/intracranial vascular evaluation, 24-hour monitoring, and echocardiogram * Patients with acute cortical infarction with the presence of intracranial occlusion (preferably) * Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) lower to 4

Exclusion criteria

* Diagnosis of lacunar infarction or transient ischemic attack (TIA) * Diagnosis of stroke of known source: atherothrombotic due to moderate or severe symptomatic extra/intracranial stenosis, major cardioembolic cause (atrial fibrillation, anterior or apical ventricular akinesis, causal PFO, post-AMI, flutter or mitral stenosis), unusual cause (thrombophilia, arterial dissection symptomatic, toxic) * Use of pacemakers * Circumstances that may preclude the clinical follow-up or reduce the possibilities of obtaining data to achieve the objectives of the study and/or limit contact with the investigator (for example, transfer to a social health center) * Unwillingness to the use of cardiac monitoring wearable devices * Not understanding study procedures

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Increased probability of detecting AFAssessed throughout 1 year trial periodTo identify and compare prevalence rates of AF detection for the purpose of determine the clinical relevance or not of a prolonged screening process for AF. On the intervention group, patients will have a cardiac monitoring for up to 12 months. If AF is detected by ECG smartwatch, the ICM data will be analyzed by a cardiologist team and provide an ECG report to investigators in order to confirmed ECG smartwatch result.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Identification of Atrial Fibrillation using a ECG smartwatchAssessed throughout 1 year trial periodEpisodes of atrial fibrillation detected by the ECG smartwatch will be compared to the gold-standard cardiac monitor
Usability and adherence to ECG SmartwatchAssessed throughout 1 year trial periodTo evaluate the usability to the use of the ECG Smartwatch through the System usability scale (SUS) and self-reported of likes or dislikes encountered with wearable.
Control of vascular risk factors (VRF)Assessed at the end of the 1 and 2 year trial periodTo describe and compare the percentage of adequate control of VRFs among patients in each study group. VRFs metrics are defined according to the American Heart Association's recommendations, including blood pressure, lipids, glucose, body mass index, nicotine exposure, diet, physical activity, and sleep health. Sub-study analysis will be perform considering data from smartwatch such as sleep, physical activity, and other health behavior.
Vascular events incidenceAssessed at the end of the 1 and 2 year trial periodTo describe the vascular events defined as recurrence of stroke, the incidence of cerebral hemorrhage, heart failure, myocardial infarction, or vascular death in each study group
Predictors of vascular recurrenceAssessed at the end of the 1 and 2 year trial periodTo identify predictors of vascular recurrence (recurrent stroke, cerebral hemorrhage, heart failure, myocardial infarction, or vascular death) in each study group. Predictors of vascular recurrence included sociodemographic data such as age, sex and education level; BMI (kg/m2); history of diabetes mellitus; LDL-cholesterol and medications, such as the use of anti-hypertensive medications, lipid-lowering medications, and antiplatelet therapy. Also clinical symptoms, neuroimagen and ECG parameters will be included in the analysis.

Countries

Spain

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 9, 2026