Reflecting on AFFECT-EU Final Conference: Atrial Fibrillation screening in the digital era

It is with great pleasure to announce that the four-year, EU-funded AFFECT-EU project marked its end with the official Final Conference.

The AFFECT-EU Consortium held a Final Conference on Monday, March 18th, 2024, at De Warande Club in Brussels and online. This event gathered representatives from researchers, notified bodies, researchers, industry, which notably contributed to sharing insights on the research and findings revolving around Atrial Fibrilation Screening.

In many patients the condition is asymptomatic and the first manifestation is a debilitating stroke, heart failure, or a blackout. Early diagnosis, oral anticoagulation, and early rhythm control therapy are key concepts to prevent these complications

To see the post-conference video, please click here.

The conference was marked by Renate Schnabel from University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, serving as an AFFECT-EU Scientific Coordinator, who opened the conference by showcasing the projects and its course goals on its development and progress.
Johan Lynth from Linköping University delved into risk calculators for AF, discussing their benefits and limitations. Johan’s presentation was supplemented by Jesper Hastrup Svendsen from The Righospitalet, who presented on the use of wearables for AF detection, covering devices, algorithms, and data analysis. Jeff Healey from McMaster University continued the conversation with a meta-analysis on AF screening studies, highlighting practical issues and examples.

After a brief break, a session led by Jonathan Mant and Richard Hobbs, alongside other experts like Richard Hobbs. Jesper Hastrup Svendsen, Jelle Himmelreich, Giuseppe Boriani, and Matthias Zink on European perspective on AF screening was held. They discussed various national programs such as SAFER, Loop, D2AF, RITMO AF, and AF STOKE, each representing a unique approach to AF screening in countries like the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy, and Germany.

Finally, Daniel Engler from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf closed the discussion by presenting the implementation of AF screening programs in daily practice, based on results from AFFECT-EU and stakeholder views across European countries.

More on the Final conference can see read at the official website of the European Society of Cardiology