title: Cardiac arrhythmias in stroke unit patients. Evaluation of the cardiac monitoring data.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cardiac arrhythmias are frequent in acute stroke. Stroke units are widely equipped with cardiac monitoring systems. Pre-existing heart diseases and heart-brain interactions may be implicated in causing cardiac arrhythmias in acute stroke. This article analyses cardiac arrhythmias detected in patients hospitalised in a stroke unit.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective observational study of consecutive patients admitted to a stroke unit with cardiac monitoring. We collected clinical data from patients and the characteristics of their cardiac arrhythmias over a 1-year period (2013). Time of arrhythmia onset, associated predisposing factors, and the therapeutic decisions made after detection of arrhythmia were examined. All patients underwent continuous cardiac monitoring during no less than 48hours.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of a total of 332 patients admitted, significant cardiac arrhythmias occurred in 98 patients (29.5%) during their stay in the stroke unit. Tachyarrhythmia (ventricular tachyarrhythmias, supraventricular tachyarrhythmias, complex ventricular ectopy) was present in 90 patients (27.1%); bradyarrhythmia was present in 13 patients (3.91%). Arrhythmias were independently associated with larger size of brain lesion and older age. In 10% of the patient total, therapeutic actions were taken after detection of significant cardiac arrhythmias. Most events occurred within the first 48hours after stroke unit admission.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Systematic cardiac monitoring in patients with acute stroke is useful for detecting clinically relevant cardiac arrhythmias. Incidence of arrhythmia is higher in the first 48hours after stroke unit admission. Age and lesion size were predicted appearance of arrhythmias. Detection of cardiac arrhythmias in a stroke unit has important implications for treatment.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Neurología, Complejo Asistencial Universitario de León, León, España. Electronic address: sfmenendez@gmail.com.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fernández-Menéndez
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Neurología, Complejo Asistencial Universitario de León, León, España.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: García-Santiago
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Cardiología, Complejo Asistencial Universitario de León, León, España.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vega-Primo
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Neurología, Complejo Asistencial Universitario de León, León, España.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: González Nafría
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Neurología, Complejo Asistencial Universitario de León, León, España.
authors.forename: L B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Lara-Lezama
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Neurología, Complejo Asistencial Universitario de León, León, España.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Redondo-Robles
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Cardiología, Complejo Asistencial Universitario de León, León, España.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Montes-Montes
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Neurología, Complejo Asistencial Universitario de León, León, España.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Riveira-Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Neurología, Complejo Asistencial Universitario de León, León, España.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tejada-García
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging
keywords: Arritmias cardiacas; Cardiac arrhythmias; Cardiac monitoring; Consecuencias terapéuticas; Ictus; Monitorización cardiaca; Stroke; Stroke unit; Telemetry; Telemetría; Therapeutic implications; Unidad de ictus