Balancing Beats and Bleeding: The Evolving Landscape of Atrial Fibrillation and Anticoagulation in the Past Two Decades.

BackgroundAnticoagulation has been the cornerstone for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). This study aims to describe the research trends and research hotspots in anticoagulation and AF.MethodsPublications on AF and anticoagulation were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection from 2004 to 2024 for bibliometric analyses.ResultsA total of 12,551 articles were retrieved. The number of publications increased each year, reaching its peak in 2021. The United States has the largest number of published articles (country appearances, 18,181), followed by Italy (6525) and Japan (6,235). The most productive institutions were Harvard University (658), McMaster University (570), and the University of Birmingham (550). LIP GYH was the most prolific author, with 707 articles published. 'Circulation' has the highest H-index (77), followed by the 'Thrombosis and Hemostasis' (73), 'Journal of the American College of Cardiology' (72). The keyword analysis revealed that the research focused on warfarin, stroke, dabigatran, direct oral anticoagulants, rivaroxaban, antithrombotic therapy, prevention, safety, apixaban, and venous thromboembolism.ConclusionsResearch in AF and anticoagulation has expanded rapidly. Coagulation contact phase (such as coagulation factor XI and XII) inhibitors have emerged as a promising future therapeutic target, and there is a critical need for global collaboration to validate these strategies across diverse populations.