Amr F Barakat, Ayman A Hussein, Walid I Saliba, Mohammed Bassiouny, Khaldoun Tarakji, Mohamed Kanj, Wael Jaber, L Leonardo Rodriguez, Richard Grimm, M Shazam Hussain, Andrew Russman, Ken Uchino, Dolora Wisco, Peter Rasmussen, Mark Bain, John Vargo, Gregory Zuccaro, David Gottesman, Bruce D Lindsay, Oussama M Wazni
BACKGROUND: The implantation of left atrial appendage closure device (WATCHMAN, Boston Scientific, Natick, MA) is an alternative option to oral anticoagulation (OAC) for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation. Patients require short-term OAC after implantation to avoid device thrombosis. The 2 clinical trials that assessed this device excluded patients thought not to be candidates for OAC. As such, little is known about the safety of this strategy in patients with previous major bleeding events...
June 2016: Circulation. Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology