Edinburgh study: 14-day monitors uncover arrhythmias

beehiveweb.co.uk editorial team 2026-08-31 19:05 4 min read

An older woman with short grey hair wearing a small medical heart monitor device.

By the beehiveweb.co.uk Health Desk | Published 31 August 2026

A wearable heart monitor used for 14 days after unexplained fainting more than doubled the detection of heart rhythm problems in a UK study involving 2,234 patients. Within one year, an arrhythmia was identified in 22% of patients given the monitor, compared with 9% receiving standard care.

The University of Edinburgh-led research also recorded a lower death rate in the monitored group: 1.5%, against 2.9% under standard care. Researchers describe that 1.4 percentage-point difference as strong evidence that earlier, longer monitoring could save lives, although the figures should not be treated as a prediction of any individual patient’s outcome.

Earlier monitoring produced faster diagnoses

Patients wearing the chest-mounted monitor received an arrhythmia diagnosis after an average of 22 days. The corresponding average under standard care was 54.5 days.

The diagnoses included potentially life-threatening disturbances such as complete heart block and pauses in the heartbeat lasting more than six seconds. Detecting these problems sooner allowed clinicians to begin treatment more quickly.

Measure	14-day monitor compared with standard care
Arrhythmia detected within one year	22% versus 9%
Average time to diagnosis	22 days versus 54.5 days
Death rate after one year	1.5% versus 2.9%
Anti-arrhythmic medication prescribed	10.8% versus 7.3%
Pacemaker implanted	6.8% versus 4.6%

These comparisons show that the monitoring strategy was associated with more diagnoses, faster identification and greater use of treatments. The mortality result does not establish that every difference in deaths was directly caused by detecting an arrhythmia; the supplied report does not provide causes of death or the trial’s detailed statistical uncertainty.

A&E tests can miss intermittent heart rhythms

Around 650,000 people attend A&E with unexplained fainting each year in the UK. Many episodes have harmless causes, but a sudden loss of consciousness can also result from an abnormal heart rhythm.

Arrhythmias are difficult to identify because patients have usually recovered before reaching A&E. Their heart rhythm may have returned to normal by the time an electrocardiogram or another immediate test is performed.

Standard follow-up can include a Holter monitor, but it is usually worn for only 48 hours. Monitoring may also be delayed until after an outpatient cardiology appointment, which the study report says can occur between six weeks and two years after the initial A&E visit. An intermittent rhythm disturbance can therefore fall outside both the short recording window and the later appointment, which helps explain the rationale for 14-day heart monitoring.

Edinburgh study: 14-day monitors uncover arrhythmias

The trial followed 2,234 UK patients

Researchers studied 2,234 people who attended UK A&E departments after unexplained fainting. Half were fitted with a compact monitor worn continuously in the middle of the chest for two weeks, while the other half received current standard monitoring.

The research team was able to begin monitoring within 72 hours of the A&E attendance. Recorded data were sent to clinicians after the two-week period so they could assess whether an arrhythmia was present and whether treatment was required.

When a serious rhythm problem appeared, the patient’s clinician was alerted within 24 working hours. This combination of early fitting and continuous recording gave cardiologists a longer opportunity to capture abnormalities that might appear only occasionally.

More patients received medication or pacemakers

Anti-arrhythmic medication was prescribed to 10.8% of patients in the wearable heart monitor group, compared with 7.3% under standard care. Pacemakers were implanted in 6.8% and 4.6% of the groups respectively.

Professor Matthew Reed, study lead and Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Edinburgh’s Usher Institute, said the continuous data helped clinicians uncover hidden rhythm problems and accelerate treatment. He called the lower observed death rate strong evidence that the approach can save lives.

The findings apply to the monitoring strategy tested among people attending A&E with unexplained fainting. They do not amount to general treatment guidance, and the source does not report whether every patient with fainting would be suitable for the same device.

The British Heart Foundation funded the study. Its Chief Scientific and Medical Officer, Professor Bryan Williams, said the results should help inform future clinical practice for sudden unexplained collapse. The research was published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Munich.

Source: University of Edinburgh News

Context & actions About this article

Source check Source trail

This report was prepared from the University of Edinburgh’s account of the UK trial and keeps the study findings separate from medical guidance.

Checks

Matched the one-year arrhythmia detection rates of 22% and 9% to the primary report.
Checked the study population of 2,234 patients and the two-week monitoring period.
Preserved the reported mortality figures while noting that causes of death were not suppli...
Distinguished study observations from advice for individual patients.

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