• Lars-Åke Levin, Magnus Husberg, Piotr Doliwa Sobocinski, Viveka Frykman Kull, Leif Friberg, Mårten Rosenqvist, and Thomas Davidson.
• Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden lars-ake.levin@liu.se.
• Europace. 2015 Feb 1; 17 (2): 207-14.

AimsThe purpose of this study was to estimate the cost-effectiveness of two screening methods for detection of silent AF, intermittent electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings using a handheld recording device, at regular time intervals for 30 days, and short-term 24 h continuous Holter ECG, in comparison with a no-screening alternative in 75-year-old patients with a recent ischaemic stroke.Methods And ResultsThe long-term (20-year) costs and effects of all alternatives were estimated with a decision analytic model combining the result of a clinical study and epidemiological data from Sweden. The structure of a cost-effectiveness analysis was used in this study. The short-term decision tree model analysed the screening procedure until the onset of anticoagulant treatment. The second part of the decision model followed a Markov design, simulating the patients' health states for 20 years. Continuous 24 h ECG recording was inferior to intermittent ECG in terms of cost-effectiveness, due to both lower sensitivity and higher costs. The base-case analysis compared intermittent ECG screening with no screening of patients with recent stroke. The implementation of the screening programme on 1000 patients resulted over a 20-year period in 11 avoided strokes and the gain of 29 life-years, or 23 quality-adjusted life years, and cost savings of €55 400.ConclusionScreening of silent AF by intermittent ECG recordings in patients with a recent ischaemic stroke is a cost-effective use of health care resources saving costs and lives and improving the quality of life.Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2014. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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