Left Atrial Appendage Closure: What Do We Know?
Publication/Presentation Date
3-1-2025
Abstract
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia in the United States and the most common cause of embolic cerebrovascular events, with the majority of these thrombi originating in the left atrial appendage. The left atrial appendage (LAA) has separate developmental, ultrastructural, and physiological characteristics from the left atrium. Although LAA anatomy is highly variable, it can be categorized into 4 types: cactus, cauliflower, chicken wing, and windsock. The cauliflower type is associated with higher stroke risk in patients with nonvalvular AF. Although the cornerstone of therapy to prevent embolic strokes from AF has been anticoagulation with thrombin inhibitors, a large group of patients are unable to tolerate anticoagulation due to bleeding. This has led to the development and advancement of multiple surgical and percutaneous LAA closure devices to prevent embolic cerebrovascular accidents without the need for anticoagulation. In this article, we discuss the outcomes of major studies that utilized surgical LAA occlusion and its effectiveness. Furthermore, we summarize nonsurgical methods of LAA closure and future directions regarding LAA closure.
Volume
33
Issue
2
First Page
153
Last Page
159
ISSN
1538-4683
Published In/Presented At
Babapoor-Farrokhran, S., Alzubi, J., Port, Z., Kaul, R., Rasekhi, R. T., Farrokhran, A. B., Sooknanan, N., Wiener, P. C., Khraisha, O., Frishman, W. H., Mainigi, S. K., & Aronow, W. S. (2025). Left Atrial Appendage Closure: What Do We Know?. Cardiology in review, 33(2), 153–159. https://doi.org/10.1097/CRD.0000000000000601
Disciplines
Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods
PubMedID
37643211
Department(s)
Administration and Leadership
Document Type
Article