Current status
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia, inherently associated with an increased risk of stroke. This risk can be effectively reduced with appropriate long-term oral anticoagulation therapy. However, the diagnostic process is quite challenging. Continuous ECG monitoring is the most efficient diagnostic method today, but is often impractical due to its high cost, limited availability, and inconvenience for the patient.
Our solution
Our approach is to identify a new, simple, cost-effective, and accurate diagnostic tool for AF detection – a biomarker detectable in peripheral blood.
Research goals
- To identify plasmatic biomarker with sufficient sensitivity and specificity for atrial fibrillation.
- To increase the effectivity of AF screening by defining the optimal method for ECG monitoring.
- To analyze the ability of plasma apelin as a biomarker to detect AF in clinical practice in patients after embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS), who will be monitored by 14-day ECG Holter monitor or implantable loop recorder (ILR).
Results
Our results suggest great potential of apelin as a diagnostic biomarker for AF and have been published in reputable science journals.
Besides apelin, several other biomarkers including AGEs, esRAGE and miRNAs also show great promise for AF detection.
