Atrial Fibrillation

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent sustained cardiac arrhythmia, affecting approximately 3% of adults worldwide. Its prevalence and incidence is rising continuously with the increasingly aging population. AF is associated with impaired prognosis, increased risk of all-cause mortality, stroke, heart failure, and hospital admissions, in addition to poor quality of life. Importantly, AF should not be considered in isolation regarding the process of prevention, detection, and management. Rather, a more holistic approach and integrated care is needed to take into account underlying comorbidities and cross-disease sequelae of AF. In this chapter, we present a brief overview of the overall aspects of AF, with particular focus on the issues relating to stroke and systemic embolism (SSE). © 2023 by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.