Left atrial appendage closure in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients with percutaneous coronary intervention

Abstract

Objectives: Nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) concomitant with coronary artery disease (CAD) may increase the risk of thromboembolism. Antithrombotic therapy for NVAF patients with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains contradictory and challenging. This study aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) in a cohort of patients with NVAF and PCI.Methods: 109 patients undergoing LAAC procedures between March 2017 and December 2020 were categorized into 2 groups, 36 patients with PCI (Group I) and 73 without (Group II). Peri-procedural and long-term complications as well as ischemia and bleeding events were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Group I had more diabetes mellitus (55.6% vs. 26.0%; p=0.003), a higher CHA2DS2-VASc scores (5.44±1.85 vs. 4.22±1.64; p=0.002) and HAS-BLED scores (3.39±0.93 vs. 2.74±1.05; p=0.003) compared to Group II. Procedure-related complications within 7 days were similar in both groups (8.3% vs 8.2%; P= 1.000). Over a median follow-up period of 20 months, there were no significant differences between two subgroups with regard to cardiovascular death (2.8% vs. 0%, p=0.330), stroke/transient ischemic attack (2.8% vs. 5.5%, p=1.000), major bleeding (0% vs. 2.7%, p=1.000) and device related thrombus (8.3% vs. 1.4%, p=0.104). The observed annualised thromboembolic and major bleeding events by Kaplan–Meier analysis was decreased by 82.4% and 100% in group I, 55.9% and 75.8% in group II, respectively.Conclusions: LAAC is a safe and effective option for stroke prevention in NVAF patients with PCI.