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Atrial Fibrillation and Its Complications: Preventive Strategies and Relative Evidence—2nd Edition

A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Cardiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2026 | Viewed by 817

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Cardiology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, 3010 Bern, Switzerland
Interests: atrial fibrillation; structural heart intervention; stroke; left atrial appendage; cardiac computed tomography angiography
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the second edition of the Special Issue “Atrial Fibrillation and Its Complications: Preventive Strategies and Relative Evidence”, which comes as a result of the success of the first edition, in which we published 10 papers. For more details, please visit: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/jcm/special_issues/9VXH0M3C1X.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia in clinical practice, with rising incidence and prevalence globally. AF represents an increasing healthcare issue due to the multiple potential associated complications, including a 5-fold increase in stroke and heart failure, a 2-fold increase in myocardial infarction, as well as dementia and cognitive decline. Over the past decade, several therapeutic strategies have emerged in clinical practice with the aim of preventing such complications. Oral anticoagulation reduces the risk of ischemic stroke by almost 70% but is associated with bleeding risk. Percutaneous left atrial appendage closure is a valuable alternative therapeutic strategy for stroke prevention in patients with AF at increased risk of bleeding. Anti-arrhythmic drugs and catheter ablation are effective in reducing the AF burden and improving patient quality of life.

We are pleased to invite you to submit original research papers or state-of-the-art reviews for this Special Issue focusing on preventive strategies of AF and its complications, emphasizing both supporting evidence and limitations related to current pharmacological and interventional approaches.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Roberto Galea
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Clinical Medicine is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • atrial fibrillation
  • catheter ablation
  • oral anticoagulation
  • left atrial appendage closure
  • stroke prevent

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

13 pages, 844 KB  
Review
Atrial Fibrillation and Cognitive Decline: Mechanisms, Evidence, and Preventive Strategies—A Narrative Review
by Dania Hasanein, Daniel Florin Lighezan, Oana Elena Țunea, Valentina Gabriela Ciobotaru and Norina Simona Bașa
J. Clin. Med. 2026, 15(5), 1899; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm15051899 - 2 Mar 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 586
Abstract
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia and is increasingly recognized as a risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia, independent of clinically apparent stroke. This narrative review synthesizes current evidence on pathophysiological mechanisms linking AF to cognitive decline, including [...] Read more.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia and is increasingly recognized as a risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia, independent of clinically apparent stroke. This narrative review synthesizes current evidence on pathophysiological mechanisms linking AF to cognitive decline, including cerebral hypoperfusion, silent cerebral infarction, microembolism, systemic inflammation, and shared vascular risk factors. A structured literature search was conducted in PubMed and ScienceDirect from January 2000 to October 2025, with evidence quality assessed using adapted Newcastle–Ottawa Scale criteria. Observational evidence suggests that oral anticoagulation, particularly with direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), may be associated with reduced dementia risk compared to no treatment or vitamin K antagonists. However, most intervention studies were not designed with cognitive endpoints as primary outcomes, limiting causal inference. Current evidence supports comprehensive AF management, including guideline-directed anticoagulation, appropriate rhythm or rate control, and aggressive modification of shared risk factors. Atrial fibrillation is consistently associated with increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia through multiple interrelated mechanisms; however, randomized trials with cognitive endpoints are needed to establish causality. Full article
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