Immediate and One-year Results in 35 Consecutive Patients After Closure of Left Atrial Appendage With the Amplatzer Cardiac Plug

Transcatheter Left Atrial Appendage Closure Using Intracardiac Echocardiographic Guidance From the Left Atrium

“…The procedural success (97%) and complication (8%) rates in this study are similar to that of published registries using the same devices but performed under general anaesthesia and TEE guidance [17][18][19][20][21] or conscious sedation and right-sided ICE guidance. 11 Two deaths occurred in the follow-up period.…”

“…Although these deaths were not procedure-or device-related, they underline the importance of careful patient selection and limitations of anticoagulation discontinuation. Mean procedural (103 minutes) time is comparable or slightly longer than the average of 63-92 minutes reported in other ACP registries, 17,19,22 however, because no general anaesthesia is required, the catheterization room turnover time is likely * Because device implantation failed in 1 patient, the final grade of occlusion was measured in 36 patients only. Furthermore, the angiographic grade of occlusion was only measured in 35 patients because 1 of the patients underwent device implantation without angiography because of severe anaphylactic reaction to iodinated contrast media.…”

Left atrial appendage exclusion for atrial fibrillation: does the protection from stroke prevail in the long-term?

“…The Plaato device was the first device designed specifically for endocardial appendage exclusion but is no longer under development due to financial considerations (40). Small retrospective studies support the efficacy and safety of the Amplatzer cardiac plug for appendage exclusion (41)(42)(43)(44). However, randomized data are not available, and a randomized clinical trial was designed but could not be conducted due to failure to obtain the investigational device exemption from the FDA (45).…”

Stroke prevention - LAA occluder for everyone?

“…Initial registry data reflected the technical improvements with a reduction of the embolisation rate to approximately 2% across a wide range of observational studies [13,14,[23][24][25][26]. Pericardial effusion leading to cardiac tamponade requiring interventions occurred in about 2% as did neurological events.…”