Key Points
- Examine the shifting global epidemiology, diverse etiologies, and public health burden of atrial fibrillation while evaluating the path toward targeted precision medicine.
- Synthesized demographic data and population-based projection models from the United States and Europe.
- Evaluated clinical, autonomic, genetic, metabolic, and lifestyle determinants contributing to arrhythmia pathogenesis.
- Atrial fibrillation affects 1% to 2% of the general population in the developed world, presenting a lifetime risk of one in four for adults aged 40 years and older.
- Population projections indicate a two- to threefold increase in the total number of atrial fibrillation cases by 2060.
- Underlying triggers vary extensively from autonomic dysfunction and structural heart disease to diabetes and endurance sports, necessitating biomarker- and gene-informed disease subtyping.
Structured PICO
PPopulationGeneral population and patients with atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation is a growing public health burden with diverse etiologies, highlighting the need for biomarker-driven precision medicine approaches.