Role of insertable cardiac monitors in anticoagulation therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation at high risk of bleeding.

AIMS

We aimed to ascertain whether an insertable cardiac monitor (ICM)-guided rhythm-control strategy and assessment of atrial fibrillation (AF) burden may allow safe withdrawal and obviate long-term use of oral anticoagulants (OACs) in AF patients at high bleeding risk.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We implanted ICMs in 70 patients with AF with high risk of stroke (CHADS2 ≥2, CHA2DS2-VASc score ≥2) and bleeding (HAS-BLED score ≥3) after restoration of normal sinus rhythm (NSR) for continuous rhythm monitoring and optimization of antiarrhythmic drugs (AADs) when necessary. Patients were categorized into: (i) Group A (NSR/low AF burden, <1%), (ii) Group B (moderate/variable AF burden), and (iii) Group C (high AF burden, always AF). At patients' insistence, OACs were discontinued after proper counselling only if they maintained NSR/low AF burden for ≥3 consecutive months. All patients (age 73.3 ± 11.7 years; 53% male) were followed clinically and with ICM monitoring for 23.5 ± 10.5 months for outcomes including stroke, bleeding, death, device malfunction or infection, and AADs' adverse effects. Patients in Group A (n = 43), Group B (n = 20), and Group C (n = 7) had similar CHADS2 (2.09 ± 0.65, 2.05 ± 0.51, and 2.14 ± 0.38, respectively), CHA2DS2-VASc (3.05 ± 1.05, 2.85 ± 0.99, and 2.42 ± 0.53, respectively), and HAS-BLED (3.02 ± 1.01, 3.40 ± 0.68, and 3.00 ± 0.58, respectively) scores (P > 0.05). In 53 (76%) patients (Group A = 41 and Group B = 12) who maintained NSR/low AF burden, OACs were discontinued without adverse events. Severe bleeding occurred in 4 of 17 (24%) patients who remained on OACs.

CONCLUSION

In AF patients with high bleeding risk, ICM-guided rhythm control with AADs and assessment of AF burden may allow safe discontinuation of OACs.