5-Year Outcomes of a Staged Hybrid Surgical and Catheter-Based Ablation Approach for Treatment of Long-Standing Persistent Atrial Fibrillation

Incomplete surgical ligation of the left atrial appendage—time for a new look at an old problem

“…However, surgical LAA exclusion can often yield incomplete LAA closure (5,6) which may in turn be associated with increased risk of thromboembolism (7). The latest studies have suggested a possible improvement in the rate of successful LAA closure using contemporary exclusion techniques such as endoscopic stapling or external clipping (8,9). However, these investigations have been uncontrolled and non-randomized.…”