Laurent Roten

@SwissCardio The yield of screening depends highly on the population, setting and screening method. So it is very difficult to generalize. The current study is among the largest in hospitalized patients.

#SwissCardio Sven Reek asks 'More than 80% of pts with AFib had an established diagnosis. Do you think this is representative for Switzerland (or Europe) or rather a result of patient selection and/or a high level of awareness in Switzerland (or Bern)?'

Laurent Roten presents 'Age and sex specific prevalence of overt and silent atrial fibrillation, primary results from the prospective STARFIB cohort study' in #SwissCardio 2020. watch at: buff.ly/2MQMbmz

@SwissCardio This depends on the patients. If they are technology-affine I would use some of the new gadgets, like the Apple Watch and others. Otherwise standard Holter ECGs or ECG patches.

#SwissCardio Tobias Reichlin asks @RotenLaurent 'In 2020, what technology do you recommend for screening for subclinical AF?'

@SwissCardio Self screening by new gadget makes sense if they have a high specificity. If they generate too many false-positive results they will not be useful.

#SwissCardio Sven Reek asks @RotenLaurent 'Do you think the benefits of new gadgets (i.e. Apple Watch) outweigh the disadvantages of “self screening”?'

@SwissCardio This question will be investigated by the Case-Control study of the STARFIB study program, which has the aim to develop a prediction model of a diagnosis of silent atrial fibrillation.