Heartbeat: ECG approaches to early detection of atrial fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality with an increasing prevalence in our ageing population. Yet, we have few effective approaches to identifying patients at risk of AF so that many patients are diagnosed only when they present with a stroke or heart failure. In this issue of Heart , Sanz-Garcia and colleagues1 present a simple ECG-based score that predicts subsequent AF with a predictive value area under the...