VIDEO: Advances in left atrial appendage occlusion technology
Devi Nair, MD, FACC, FHRS, director of cardiac electrophysiology at St. Bernard's Healthcare, Jonesboro, Arkansas, explains some of the recent advances in transcatheter left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion technology at the 2022 Transcatheter Valve Therapeutics (TVT) Structural Heart Summit.
She discusses the two FDA cleared LAA occlusion (LAAO) devices, the Boston Scientific Watchman FLX and the Abbott Amulet, and new devices in development or already in trials. These include the CLAAS Conformal, Laminar, LAmbre and devices that may combine ablation with LAAO.
Nair also discusses use of CT imaging to help size and preplan the LAA closure procedures and how transesophageal echo (TEE) and now 3D/4D intra-cardioac echo (ICE) can play a role in procedure guidance.
LAAO is a device implant to close the LAA in select atrial fibrillation (AFib) patients so they can reduce or no longer take anticoagulation drugs or other blood thinners. LAAO is often considered in patients at high risk for bleeding.
Read more in the LAA occlusion update article from TVT 2022 — New LAA occluder technology and the debate on echo vs. CT image guidance
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