1. Twelve-month follow-up of left atrial appendage occlusion with Amplatzer Amulet
- Author
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Caroline Kleinecke, Johannes Brachmann, Jai-Wun Park, Steffen Schnupp, Konstantin Zintl, and Martin Gödde
- Subjects
Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Cardiac Catheterization ,Septal Occluder Device ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Neurological examination ,030204 cardiovascular system & hematology ,Prosthesis Design ,Left atrial appendage occlusion ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Internal medicine ,Germany ,Occlusion ,Atrial Fibrillation ,medicine ,Humans ,Atrial Appendage ,Cardiac Surgical Procedures ,Adverse effect ,Stroke ,Contraindication ,Aged ,Retrospective Studies ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,business.industry ,Incidence ,Atrial fibrillation ,General Medicine ,medicine.disease ,Surgery ,Treatment Outcome ,Cardiology ,Female ,Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine ,business ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Echocardiography, Transesophageal ,Month follow up ,Follow-Up Studies - Abstract
Background: The Amplatzer Amulet (St. Jude Medical, Minneapolis, MN, USA) is a second generation Amplatzer device for left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion (LAAO) for stroke prophylaxis in patients with atrial fibrillation. This research sought to assess the clinical performance of the Amplatzer Amulet device and in follow up for 12 months. Methods: In this single-center registry patients with atrial fibrillation and contraindication to oral anticoagulation underwent LAAO with the Amplatzer Amulet device. Follow-up was performed before discharge, by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) after 6 weeks and telephone interview after 3, 6 and 12 months. Results: Between October 2014 and August 2015 50 patients (76.1 ± 8.3 years; 30 male) were enrolled. Procedural success was achieved in 49 (98%) patients. Major periprocedural adverse events were observed in 4 (8%) of patients: 1 device embolization, 2 pericardial effusions requiring pericardiocentesis and 1 prolonged hospital stay due to retropharyngeal hematoma from the TEE probe. Follow-up TEE was available in 38 of 50 patients showing complete LAA sealing in all. 2 device-related thrombi were also documented. At 12-month follow-up 7 patients had died unrelated to the device. Ischemic stroke occurred in 3 patients. According to neurological examination two were classified as microangiopathic and not cardio-embolic. The other one could not be classified. Bleeding complications (5 minor, 3 major) were documented in 8 patients. Conclusions: Although minimizing procedure-related complications remains challenging, LAAO with the Amplatzer Amulet device showed high procedural success and excellent LAA sealing. (Cardiol J 2017; 24, 2: 131–138)
- Published
- 2016