Why the study?
Residual peri-device leaks after left atrial appendage occlusion are not uncommon and increase residual stroke risk, prompting closure strategies to enable safe oral anticoagulation discontinuation.
The Cardioform Septal Occluder may be a safe and feasible option for percutaneous closure of residual peri-device leaks following Watchman implantation.
May allow OAC discontinuation after post-Watchman PDL closure; hypothesis-generating and requires prospective validation.
Left atrial appendage occlusion has become a safe and effective alternative for stroke-risk reduction among patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF). Although complete closure is ideal, residual peri-device leaks (PDL) are not uncommon and have been associated with an increased residual risk of stroke. PDL closure has been proposed as an alternate strategy to allow for the safe discontinuation of oral anticoagulation. We describe the safety and feasibility of successful PDL closure using a non-fenestrated Cardioform (Gore Medical, Flagstaff, Arizona) septal occluder after initial Watchman (Boston Scientific, Marlborough, Massachusetts) implantation.
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Sleiman et al. (2021) studied this question.
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