Commentary: Concomitant LAA Closure; A No-Brainer to Protect the Brain?

Settled science and unanswered questions. There has been a renewed interest in concomitant closure of the left atrial appendage (LAA) during open heart surgery. The paper by Madsen et al adds to that body of literature and addresses important questions.1 If a surgeon is performing a cardiac operation what is the risk, and long-term benefit, of closing the LAA? It has been reported that 90% of strokes in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) originate in the LAA,2 and for many years surgeons have sought to obliterate the “most lethal attachment”.
Source: Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery - Category: Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery Authors: Tags: ADULT – Commentary Source Type: research