deCODE AF™

A DNA-based test enabling stroke prevention through more effective screening for atrial fibrillation. Targets outpatient Holter monitoring towards those stroke patients most likely to have intermittent AF. Treating AF patients with warfarin reduces their risk of stroke by 70%.

Screening and prevention

How deCODE AF™ can help.

Diagnosing a larger proportion of AF

Between 15 and 20 percent of all strokes are cardiogenic, the subtype with the highest morbidity and mortality. Atrial fibrillation is the leading cause of cardiogenic stroke, but because it is often intermittent it is under diagnosed and undertreated in those who receive only in-patient cardiac monitoring following a stroke.

Targeted screening

Monitoring all ischemic stroke patients in an ambulatory setting may be considered impractical or too expensive. deCODE AF™ addresses this problem by identifying those stroke patients who are more likely to have AF. These patients may therefore benefit most from outpatient cardiac monitoring.

Better prevention

Two studies have shown that an extra week of ambulatory cardiac monitoring using an automated digital event recorder following a stroke may identify AF in another 5.6-14.3% of stroke survivors. For those in whom AF is detected, treatment with warfarin can reduce the risk of a secondary AF-related stroke by 70%.

Significant change in risk for a significant proportion of patients

For people of European descent, the risk range of the test is 0.52 to 5.46-times the population average risk of AF. About 39% of the population will have a relative risk above 1.0, with 7% having a risk above 1.5-fold the population average risk, and about 2 % with a risk greater than 2.0-fold the population average.

For those of East Asian origin, the two markers on chromosome 4q25 markers (rs2200733 and rs10033464) have been validated. The approximately 30% of people of East Asian descent homozygous for the risk alleles have a 33% higher risk of atrial fibrillation compared to that of the population average for East Asians.

At present, validation studies of sufficient size have not yet been completed to enable the interpretation of the risk conferred by the markers measured by the test in people of other continental ancestries. deCODE publishes in leading journals all of the risk markers it discovers, enabling groups around the world to test and validate these markers in many populations.

This content was last reviewed on February 04, 2011.