September 12, 2016Heart
To occlude or not? Left atrial appendage occlusion for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation
Why the study?
Does left atrial appendage occlusion prevent stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation compared to warfarin?
Population
Patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation
Comparison
Left atrial appendage occlusion vs Warfarin
Design
Editorial
Authors
Discussion
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Member takes
Implication
While LAA occlusion shows superiority to warfarin for a composite efficacy endpoint, this benefit is driven by reduced hemorrhagic strokes, and the procedure carries a high periprocedural complication rate without reducing ischemic strokes.
Structured PICO
Does left atrial appendage occlusion prevent stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation compared to warfarin?
P
Population
Patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation
I
Intervention
Left atrial appendage occlusion (e.g., Watchman device)
C
Comparator
Warfarin
O
Outcome
Composite of stroke, systemic embolism and cardiovascular/unexplained deathcomposite
Cite This Study
Mazurek et al. (2016) studied this question.