Abstract
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia. The most feared complication of AF is thromboembolism. Oral anticoagulation (OAC) is the standard treatment to reduce thromboembolism occurrence in patients with AF. The rate of relevant bleeding, medical interactions and incompliance under OAC remains consistent. In this context, patients with AF at high risk for thromboembolism and with a contraindication to OAC may be considered as candidates for percutaneous left atrial appendage closure. In this review, we discuss the rationale, indications, technical aspects and clinical results of left atrial appendage closure by means of the WATCHMAN® (Boston Scientific, MA, USA) device.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.