Early detection of atrial fibrillation in patients with heart failure reduces the risk of subsequent hospitalization: a subanalysis of the randomized TIM-HF2 trial

AIMS: To evaluate the rate of new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) and the potential improved outcome in heart failure (HF) patients using non-invasive remote patient management (RPM) compared with usual care (UC). METHODS AND RESULTS: This analysis assessed a subgroup of 1538 patients of the TIM-HF2 trial with chronic HF, New York Heart Association Class II or III, admission to hospital for HF within 12 months before randomization, and a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of 45% or lower. Patients with AF in the baseline electrocardiogram (ECG), with an implanted cardiac device, a history of ablation therapy, and recent anticoagulation were excluded, leaving 347 patients for final analysis (RPM = 175; UC = 172). The percentage of days lost due to unplanned cardiovascular hospitalization or death of any cause (primary endpoint of TIM-HF2), the rate of newly detected AF, and the hospitalization rate due to AF were analysed. For patients with new AF, there was a significant reduction for the primary endpoint in the RPM group [5.5%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0–11.6 vs. UC: 14.6%, 95% CI 8.0–21.2; P < 0.001]. Within the first 3 months, the detection rate of new AF was significantly higher in the RPM group (5.1%) compared with UC (1.2%), P = 0.035. After 1 year, 23 patients (13.1%) assigned to RPM and 12 patients (7.0%) assigned to UC had newly detected AF, P = 0.056. Unplanned hospitalizations related to AF were significantly lower in the RPM group (2 out of 23 patients vs. UC: 10 out of 12 patients; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: In this subgroup of HF patients in the TIM-HF2 trial, non-invasive daily ECG transmission leads to a four times higher detection rate of new AF compared with UC. This was associated with a significant reduction of days lost due to unplanned cardiovascular hospitalizations, especially hospitalizations related to AF.