NICE has assessed 3 implantable cardiac monitors to help the NHS decide whether to use them. These monitors are called Reveal LINQ, Confirm Rx and BioMonitor 2‑AF.
An implantable cardiac monitor is a small device implanted under the skin on your chest. It continuously monitors heart rhythm for several years. If it detects atrial fibrillation (a heart rhythm problem), it sends an electrocardiogram to a doctor. The doctor can check if you’ve had atrial fibrillation and decide if it needs treatment.
NICE has said that the Reveal LINQ cardiac monitor can be used to help detect atrial fibrillation if you’ve had a cryptogenic stroke – that’s a stroke that you do not know the cause of. This is because evidence shows that this monitor increases the detection of atrial fibrillation in people who have had a cryptogenic stroke. But you can only have it if you’ve already had non-invasive electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring that has not detected atrial fibrillation and if doctors still think your stroke was probably caused by a heart rhythm problem.
NICE has not recommended the other 2 cardiac monitors, Confirm Rx and BioMonitor 2‑AF. This is because there’s not enough evidence to show how much more atrial fibrillation they would detect than if they were not used.
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