Atrial fibrillation : state of the art in 2017 : shifting paradigms in pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment and prevention

The regular readership of Heart Lung and Circulation includes cardiovascular clinicians, cardiac geneticists, basic and translational cardiovascular scientists, neurologists, thoracic physicians, haematologists, sports physicians, clinical trialists and cardiothoracic surgeons. It is hard to imagine a disease process which spans the expertise and interests of these various craft groups in the same way that atrial fibrillation (AF) does. The commonest sustained disorder of cardiac rhythm, AF is responsible for a growing pandemic of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality with its attendant health economic implications. Given these facts, as well as the rapidly changing AF research and practice landscape, we felt compelled to commission a Special Issue of Heart Lung and Circulation dedicated to this important condition.