Heartbeat: Left atrial appendage occlusion for stroke prevention

Stroke prevention is the primary goal of therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).1 Heart has published numerous papers on early AF detection,2 approaches for restoring normal sinus rhythm, risk scores for determining which AF patients benefit most from anti-thrombotic therapy, and transcatheter occlusion of the left atrial appendage (LAA) to prevent thrombus formation.3–6 Early studies of LAA occlusion compared this procedure to vitamin K antagonist (VKA) therapy for stroke prevention. Now, direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have replaced VKA therapy in many AF patients due to an improved risk/benefit profile, among other advantages, but LAA occlusion has not been compared to DOAC therapy. In this issue of Heart, Sahay and colleagues (see page 139) performed a network meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of LAA occlusion compared to medical therapy based on 19 randomized trials...
Source: Heart - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Heartbeat Source Type: research