<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><xml><records><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Anagnostopoulos, Ioannis</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Kousta, Maria</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Kossyvakis, Charalampos</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Paraskevaidis, Nikolaos Taxiarchis</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Schizas, Nikolaos</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Vrachatis, Dimitrios</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Deftereos, Spyridon</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Giannopoulos, Georgios</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Atrial strain and occult atrial fibrillation in cryptogenic stroke patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Clin Res Cardiol</style></secondary-title><alt-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Clin Res Cardiol</style></alt-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Atrial Fibrillation</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Echocardiography</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Heart Atria</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Humans</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Ischemic Stroke</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Stroke</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2023</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2023 Nov</style></date></pub-dates></dates><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">112</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1600-1609</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">BACKGROUND: Cryptogenic stroke (CS) remains a significant cause of morbidity. Failure to identify the underlying pathology increases the rate of recurrence. Atrial fibrillation (AF) seems to be responsible for a substantial proportion of CS. Thus, there is an unmet need to identify and properly treat those with silent AF.

PURPOSE: To investigate the association between left atrial strain and newly diagnosed AF in CS patients.

OBJECTIVES: We searched major electronic databases for articles assessing the relationship between either peak left atrial longitudinal (PALS) or peak contractile (PACS) strain-quantified using speckle tracking echocardiography-and the incidence of occult AF during the diagnostic work-up of CS patients.

RESULTS: Eleven studies (two thousand and eighty-one patients) were analyzed. Incidence of occult AF was 19%. Both PALS and PACS were significantly lower in patients with newly diagnosed AF (MD - 8.6%, 95%CI - 10.7 to - 6.4, I 86.4% and MD - 5.5, 95%CI - 6.8 to - 4.2, I 80.8%). According to the diagnostic accuracy meta-analysis, PALS &lt; 20% present 71% (95%CI 47-87%) sensitivity and 71% (95%CI 60-81%) specificity for the diagnosis of occult AF, assuming a prevalence of 20%. The corresponding values for PACS &lt; 11% are 83% (95%CI 57-94%) and 78% (95%CI 56-91%).

CONCLUSION: Both PALS and PACS are significantly lower in patients with CS and silent AF. It seems that the cut-off values mentioned above could help physicians in identifying patients who may benefit more from prolonged rhythm monitoring. More studies are needed to confirm these findings.</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">11</style></issue><custom1><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37154833?dopt=Abstract</style></custom1></record></records></xml>