Less major bleeding and higher hemoglobin after left atrial appendage closure in high‐risk patients: Data from a long‐term, longitudinal, two‐center observational study

Figures

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  Figure 1. Risk for stroke and bleeding our real‐world collective. (A) Frequency of patients with scores for stroke (CHA2DS2‐VASc) and bleeding (HAS‐BLED) risk. For the calculation of the CHA2DS2‐VASc score, gender was not considered. (B) Anticoagulation strategy applied before, 3 months and 1 year after LAAC. APT, antiplatelet therapy; DAPT, dual antiplatelet therapy; LAAC, left atrial appendage closure; NOAC, non vitamin K dependent oral anticoagulation; VKA, vitamin K antagonist.

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  Figure 2. Event rates of clinical endpoints and use of RBC concentrates. (A) Event rates before (pre‐LAAC) and after (post‐LAAC) were compared in a longitudinal manner. (B) Frequency distribution of the number of transfused RBC units per patient before (pre‐LAAC) and following (post‐LAAC). # p < .01, ## p < .0001, paired student's t‐test. LAAC, left atrial appendage closure; RBC, red blood cell.

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  Figure 3. Longitudinal concentration of serum hemoglobin. (A) Scatter plots showing the temporal change of the serum hemoglobin concentration. Initial: first value in the observational period; after procedure: value at discharge after LAAC; end of follow‐up: last value during observational period. Two‐way ANOVA: p < .0001, paired student's t‐test: # p < .01, ## p < .001. (B) Simple linear regression and correlation analysis of the difference in annualized major bleeding events (major bleeding events per patient year after LAAC minus major bleeding events per patient year before LAAC) versus the difference in serum hemoglobin values (serum hemoglobin at the end of the observation period minus serum hemoglobin at the beginning of the observation period). Solid line is best‐fit line, dashed lines are 90% prediction bands of the best‐fit line. LAAC, left atrial appendage closure; P, p value; r, Pearson's r.