title: Novel stroke risk reduction in atrial fibrillation: left atrial appendage occlusion with a focus on the Watchman closure device.
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 CHADS2or 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, St. Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Arash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alipour
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, St. Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Lisette I S
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Wintgens
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, St. Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Martin J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Swaans
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, St. Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jippe C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Balt
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, St. Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Benno J W M
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Rensing
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, St. Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Lucas V A
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Boersma
mesh_terms: D020517:Atrial Appendage / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: atrial fibrillation; ischemic stroke; left atrial appendage