Public Defence: Loreta Skrebelyte-Strøm

MD Loreta Skrebelyte-Strøm at Institute of Clinical Medicine will be defending the thesis “Prediction and detection of occult atrial fibrillation in patients after acute cryptogenic stroke and transient ischemick attack. The PROACTIA study” for the degree of PhD (Philosophiae Doctor).

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Due to copyright issues, an electronic copy of the thesis must be ordered from the faculty. For the faculty to have time to process the order, the order must be received by the faculty at the latest 2 days before the public defence. Orders received later than 2 days before the defence will not be processed. After the public defence, please address any inquiries regarding the thesis to the candidate.

Trial Lecture – time and place

See Trial Lecture.

Adjudication committee

  • First opponent: Associate Professor Johann Engdahl, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
  • Second opponent: Associate Professor Stig Urheim, University of Bergen
  • Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Professor II Angelika Sorteberg, University of Oslo

Chair of the Defence

Professor II Arnljot Tveit, University of Oslo

Principal Supervisor

Professor II Ole Morten Rønning, University of Oslo

Summary

This is a clinical study of patients after cryptogenic stroke (stroke of unknown cause) treated at the Department of Neurology and the Department of Cardiology at Akershus University Hospital (AHUS). Loreta Skrebelyte-Strøm and colleagues have developed a clinical score, based on ECG, 24-hours ECG recording and cardiac ultrasound to identify patients who has highest risk of underlying hidden atrial fibrillation, one of the most important risk factors for blood clots in the heart and stroke. Hidden atrial fibrillation was identified using cardiac monitors, implanted under the skin of the study participants and with an ability to record and interpret the heart rhythm continuously for up to three years. The clinical score was able to select patients with the highest and lowest risk of atrial fibrillation. This is important because those who have hidden atrial fibrillation should be treated with another type of blood-thinning medication to prevent recurrence of stroke.

The researchers have also performed and analyzed ultrasound of the heart using new methods such as strain, mechanical dispersion and three-dimensional ultrasound. Strain and mechanical dispersion are ultrasound methods that measures the contraction pattern of the left atrium and can detect reduced function. This method has previously been shown to be associated with the risk of clinical atrial fibrillation. In this study, the researchers have for the first time applied strain and mechanical dispersion on the left atrial appendage in patients after cryptogenic stroke and shown that this method could be able to predict the risk of hidden atrial fibrillation and blood clot formation in the left atrium auricle. They have also demonstrated by using three-dimensional cardiac ultrasound, that patients with a special auricular morphology («chicken wing») have the highest risk of developing blood clots in the left atrial appendage.

Additional information

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Published June 5, 2024 1:39 PM - Last modified June 17, 2024 1:02 PM