**1. Introduction**

Atrial fibrillation is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia, which is associated with a high risk of stroke and thromboembolism. Increasing evidence suggests that the thrombogenic tendency in atrial fibrillation is related to several underlying pathophysiologi‐ cal mechanisms. Virchow's triad, a time-honored paradigm that offers mechanistic insights for thrombus initiation and development regardless of origin, does indeed apply to atrial fi‐ brillation thrombogenesis [1,2].
