Atrial Fibrillation

As 2024 draws to a close, we’re celebrating a wonderful year of content. From insightful expert Q&As and peer-reviewed articles to conference highlights and a wealth of medical education, it’s been a year filled with content that we hope has been useful to our audience. We’ve had the privilege of connecting with leading experts and working alongside medical societies to support the cardiology community with high-quality, easily accessible content.

touchCARDIO is delighted to announce that Heart International has received an impressive new Impact Factor of 1.9 in the 2024 Journal Citation Reports (JCR). This achievement marks a notable increase from last year’s Impact Factor of 0.2 and highlights the journal’s growing influence in the cardiology field.

A recent study has uncovered a significant association between residential exposure to transportation noise and the risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF). The study, published in The Lancet Regional Health - Europe reveals that individuals exposed to elevated levels of road traffic noise face a 2% increase in the risk of AF for every 10-decibel rise in noise exposure. Notably, this risk was amplified among women and those with higher body mass indices, underscoring the need for heightened awareness of environmental health risks.

A recent study by Ryan Woltzand colleagues from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (CA, USA)  in PNAS reveals that phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) plays a critical role in regulating small-conductance Ca²+-activated K⁺ (SK2) channels by disrupting a key salt bridge that modulates channel activation. This discovery not only enhances our understanding of ion channel dynamics but also holds significant promise for the development of targeted therapies for atrial fibrillation (AF).

A recent study published in Nature Medicine has provided compelling evidence that wearable devices can play a crucial role in managing atrial fibrillation (AF) in elderly patients.