Nov 27, 2024 · Left atrial appendage (LAA) closure is a procedure that blocks or closes the opening to your LAA to keep blood clots from leaving there and going into your bloodstream. This prevents strokes in people with atrial fibrillation, but without blood thinners.

This review looks at the surgical experience with LAA occlusion, with a focus on the techniques of closure, the prospects for stroke reduction, and the percutaneous trials completed so far, to formulate some meaningful conclusions about the status of LAA closure today.

Left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) has emerged as an effective site-directed therapy in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF) for stroke prevention, who are ineligible for long-term oral anticoagulation.

Mar 18, 2025 · Background Surgical left atrial appendage (LAA) closure is an increasingly utilized approach to mitigate the risk of cardioembolic stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Consensus is lacking regarding optimal stroke prevention management after surgical LAA management. Objective To elucidate real world clinical management of anticoagulation in patients undergoing surgical LAA ...

Nov 10, 2009 · In our own pilot study, the Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion Study (LAAOS), oversewing the appendage without amputation produced successful exclusion in only 45% of patients.

After exclusion of LAA as an embolic source, the remaining risk of thromboembolism does not longer justify the use of oral anticoagulants. Various surgical and catheter-based methods have been developed to exclude the LAA. This paper reviews the physiological and pathophysiological role of the LAA and catheter-based methods of LAA exclusion. 1.

Left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO), also referred to as left atrial appendage closure (LAAC), is a procedure used to reduce the risk of blood clots from the left atrial appendage entering the bloodstream and causing a stroke in those with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.

Oct 4, 2021 · The trial provides evidence that LAA occlusion should now become standard of care in patients with a history of AF undergoing cardiac surgery. The procedure can be performed safely, without a significant increase in cardiopulmonary bypass or cross-clamp time, mediastinal bleeding, or reoperation rate.

Feb 17, 2017 · The authors concluded that complete LAA occlusion proved challenging and highly operator-dependent, with post-operative transesophageal echocardiography demonstrating incomplete LAA exclusion in 34% of patients subjected to either suture ligation or stapler closure.

trial fibrillation is associated with an increase in the risk for stroke.1,2 The left atrial appendage (LAA) has been implicated in the formation of clotsin patients with atrial fibrillation, with numbers as high as 90% of all clots in the heart found in the LAA.2 There have been several retrospective and prospective trials that have