LGALS3 and atrial fibrillation: The main findings were as follows: (1) plasma Gal-3 concentrations were significantly elevated in PAF patients with progression than those without; (2) plasma Gal-3 concentration was significantly associated with PAF progression, even after adjustment of other potential confounding risk factors; (3) the overall AF progression rate was 23.94% within a three-years follow-up period, and the majority of PAF progression events (42/51,82.35%) occurred during the first two-years of follow-up.