Biomarkers in atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most commonly reported heart rhythm disorder and has a significant impact on morbidity, disability, and death in the population. Identifying biological markers improved our understanding of the AF mechanism and demonstrated the ability to improve AF risk stratification. Currently, biomarkers have significantly improved risk stratification in addition to current models for predicting risk in patients with atrial fibrillation. The same results were observed for markers of kidney function, markers of blood clotting, and markers of inflammation in patients with atrial fibrillation based on large randomized clinical trials. This data may allow the development of new tools to improve risk stratification in patients with AF. In this review, presented data from current clinical studies on biomarkers in patients with AF, highlight new associations of biomarkers, discuss their potential benefits for selecting optimal treatment strategies to prevent thromboembolic complications, mortality, and bleeding during anticoagulant therapy, and discuss progress in using biomarkers to stratify risk in patients with AF.