Novel stroke risk reduction in atrial fibrillation: left atrial appendage occlusion with a focus on the Watchman closure device

Arash Alipour; Lisette I S Wintgens; Martin J Swaans; Jippe C Balt; Benno J W M Rensing; Lucas V A Boersma

doi:10.2147/VHRM.S89213

Novel stroke risk reduction in atrial fibrillation: left atrial appendage occlusion with a focus on the Watchman closure device

Vasc Health Risk Manag. 2017 Mar 6:13:81-90. doi: 10.2147/VHRM.S89213. eCollection 2017.

Authors

Arash Alipour¹, Lisette I S Wintgens¹, Martin J Swaans¹, Jippe C Balt¹, Benno J W M Rensing¹, Lucas V A Boersma¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Cardiology, St. Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands.

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation (AF) remains an important clinical problem with severe complications such as stroke, which especially harms those with risk factors as calculated by the CHADS₂ or CHA₂DS₂-VASc. Until now, no therapy has proven 100% effective against AF. Since the left atrial appendage (LAA) is the most prominent nonvalvular AF-related thromboembolic source and (novel) oral anticoagulant [(N)OAC] carries the hazard of bleeding, LAA occlusion may be an alternative, especially in patients who are ineligible for (N)OAC therapy. In this review, we discuss several LAA occlusion techniques with a focus on the Watchman device since this device is the most thoroughly studied device of all.

Keywords: atrial fibrillation; ischemic stroke; left atrial appendage.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Atrial Appendage / physiopathology*
Atrial Fibrillation / complications
Atrial Fibrillation / physiopathology
Atrial Fibrillation / therapy*
Cardiac Catheterization / adverse effects
Cardiac Catheterization / instrumentation*
Equipment Design
Humans
Recurrence
Risk Factors
Stroke / etiology
Stroke / prevention & control*
Treatment Outcome