title: Robotic-assisted left atrial ligation for stroke reduction in chronic atrial fibrillation: a case report.
abstract: Patients with atrial fibrillation are at significant risk for sustaining a thromboembolic stroke. More than 90% of thromboemboli form in the left atrial appendage. Ligation of the left atrial appendage to reduce the risk of stroke is often performed in connection with other cardiac surgical procedures. As a stand-alone procedure, however, left atrial ligation has generally been deemed too invasive and has gained little support as an alternative therapeutic option. We report a case of port-access robotic-assisted left atrial ligation as a stand-alone procedure in a patient with chronic atrial fibrillation in whom anticoagulation was a contraindication. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of stand-alone robotic-assisted left atrial ligation in the literature.
authors.affiliation: London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario, Canada. bob.kiaii@lhsc.on.ca
authors.forename: Bob
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kiaii
authors.forename: R Scott
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: McClure
authors.forename: Alan C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Skanes
authors.forename: Ian G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: Alison R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Spouge
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Swinamer
authors.forename: Reiza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rayman
authors.forename: Daniel T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Bainbridge
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Iglesias
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Novick
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000925:Anticoagulants; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000150:complications*; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D000075202:Contraindications; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000601:surgery; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures; D012371:Robotics; D020521:Stroke / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D000925:Anticoagulants