Why the study?
Current guidelines only discussed indications and contraindications for LAAC, lacking comprehensive recommendations regarding devices, imaging, complications, perioperative medication, and postoperative management.
This Chinese expert consensus provides comprehensive recommendations for the clinical application of left atrial appendage closure in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.
Informs appropriate LAAC use in non-valvular AF; extends international consensus with China-specific graded recommendations.
The left atrial appendage closure (LAAC), the efficacy and safety of which has been proved by a number of randomized controlled trials and registries, is recommended by several guidelines to prevent stroke in high-risk patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation. However, current guidelines only discuss the indications and contraindications of LAAC, as an emerging technology, there still lacks comprehensive recommendations involved with LAAC, including devices, image assessment modality, identification and treatment of complications, perioperative medication, and postoperative management. Therefore, the Chinese Society of Cardiology (CSC) of Chinese Medical Association (CMA) and the Editorial Board of Chinese Journal of Cardiology jointly issued the expert consensus statement on LAAC in the prevention of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation after comprehensive discussion by experts with different backgrounds. This consensus provided three levels of recommendations to guide and standardize the clinical application of LAAC based on existing evidence and clinical practice experience, including appropriate (more potential benefits or fewer harms), uncertain (somehow reasonable but need more evidence), and inappropriate (unlikely to benefit, or have more complications).
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He et al. (2022) studied this question.
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