Arrhythmias & electrophysiologySecondary analysis
Circadian patterns of atrial fibrillation and disease progression assessed by implanted loop recorders
- Secondary analysis of the LOOP randomised trial
- post hoc analysis
Authors' conclusion
A circadian pattern was observed for ILR-detected AF, with onset most often before noon. Cluster analyses revealed distinct AF phenotypes with different patterns of onset and progression over time.
Study context
- Population
- Older, atrial fibrillation (AF)-naïve persons with risk factors for AF and stroke with implantable loop recorder data430 with AF
- Participants
- 1,410 participants
- Comparison
- Midnight-morning vs daytime AF onset clusters
Primary result
As reported in the abstract
Circadian pattern of AF episodes (41 713 episodes ≥6 min) · 39 (37-41) months of monitoring
Night-time episodes (onset 10 p.m.-7 a.m.) share of all episodes
40%
Episode duration, night-time vs daytime (min)
28 (10-104) vs 14 (8-44)
Ventricular rate, night-time vs daytime (b.p.m.)
75 (60-86) vs 85 (75-100)
Further findings
| Outcome | Values | P value |
|---|---|---|
| AF burden by onset cluster | Midnight-morning cluster 0.2 (range 0.1–1.2) % · Daytime cluster 0.1 (range 0.0–0.4) % | P < 0.001 |
| Progression to ≥24-h episodes by onset cluster | Midnight-morning cluster 28% · Daytime cluster 18% | P = 0.019 |
Parts of this Brief are withheld: the automatic checks could not confirm them against the abstract.
Original publication
Circadian patterns of atrial fibrillation and disease progression assessed by implanted loop recorders. Eur Heart J. Published 16 June 2025. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf386
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it