Characteristics of included studies
| Trial name, published year | CRYSTAL AF, 20145 | PRE DIEM, 20216 | STROKE-AF, 20217 |
| Population characteristics | Patients aged 40 years of age or older with cryptogenic stroke or TIA | Patients aged 18 years or older with an arterial ischaemic stroke | Patients aged ≥60 years or aged 50 to 59 years with a stroke risk factor and stroke attributed to large- or small-vessel disease |
| Time from index stroke to enrollment | ≤90 days | ≤6 months | ≤10 days |
| Sample size (women, %) | 441 (37) | 300 (40) | 492 (38) |
| Mena age, years | 62 | 64 | 67 |
| CHA2DS2-VASC score, median (IQR) | NA (CHADS2 score median: 3) | 4 (3–5) | 5 (4–6) |
| % of 24 hours Holter prior to enrolment | 71 | 79 | NA |
| Duration of ILR | 12 months | 12 months | 12 months |
| Duration needed for qualified new-detected AF | AF ≥2 min | AF ≥2 min | AF ≥2 min |
| Median (IQR) duration for the longest single episode of AF in the ILR, hours | 11.2 (0.7–19.6) | NA | 1.5 (0.2–8.8) |
| Cardiac rhythm monitoring method in the control group | Follow-up visits scheduled at 1, 6 and 12 months and unscheduled visits in the event of symptom occurrence | Conventional external loop recorder monitoring for 30 days | Usual care specific to each participating site. |
AF, atrial fibrillation; CRYSTAL AF, the Cryptogenic Stroke and Underlying AF; ILR, implantable loop recorder; NA, not available; OAC, oral anticoagulant; PRE DIEM, the Post-Embolic Rhythm Detection with Implantable versus External Monitoring; STROKE-AF, the Stroke of Known Cause and Underlying Atrial Fibrillation; TIA, transient ischaemic attack.