. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . doi:10.1093/ehjci/jeu012 Online publish-ahead-of-pr...

Despite more than 10 years’ clinical experience, the role of percutaneous left atrial appendage (LAA) closure in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) is still elusive. The reasons include the complexity of the procedure, the limited clinical information from controlled trials, and recent developments in the field of anticoagulation. A weak, grade IIb recommendation (ie, usefulne...

OBJECTIVES The authors sought to assess the clinical outcomes of left atrial appendage (LAA) closure with the LAmbre closure system in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). BACKGROUND Over 90% of thrombi are located in the LAA in NVAF patients. METHODS A prospective, multicenter study was conducted in 153 NVAF patients with CHADS2 score ≥1. RESULTS The LAA was successfully...

Percutaneous device closure of the left atrial appendage (LAA) has been introduced in the last decade as a minimally invasive alternative treatment to long-term anticoagulation to reduce the risk of thrombo-embolism in patients with atrial fibrillation. Echocardiography is an essential tool at all stages of the procedure. Pre-procedural echocardiography is used to screen suitable candidates and...

If access to the ventricular chambers of the heart could be obtained without loss of blood or interruption of the normal functions of the heart, certain congenital and acquired lesions of the interior of the heart might be partially or completely corrected with minimal risk. The present investigation was stimulated by the needs of an infant in severe cardiac failure due to the presence of a ven...

This study compared the penetration of moxalactam and cefazolin into the human atrial appendage after simultaneous administration of both drugs by two routes. Nineteen adult patients scheduled for coronary vein bypass surgery randomly received 10 mg of moxalactam and cefazolin per kg by either the intramuscular or intravenous (bolus) route on administration of anesthesia. Concentrations of cefa...

The two hearts here reported showed opposite manifestations of disordered bending of the primitive cardiac tube at an early stage of ontogeny. In both, the atrial appendages lay side by side instead of encircling the roots of the great vessels. In the first the two appendages lay to the right of both great vessels, a condition that does not appear to have been described. In the other both appen...

Clipping to sinus rhythm: cardioversion of atrial fibrillation by a thoracoscopic left atrial appendage occlusion Vedran Velagić*, Gian-Battista Chierchia, and Mark La Meir Centre for Cardiovascular Diseases, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 101 Laarbeeklaan, 1090 Brussels, Belgium * Corresponding author. Tel: +385 91 7929284; fax: +322 477 6851, E-mail address: vvel...

For cardiac surgery patients presenting with atrial fibrillation (AF), surgeons offer an operation that corrects the structural heart disease and the AF. With this approach, it is estimated that surgeons will perform more than 10,000 ablation procedures in 2007. Surgeons are developing minimally invasive techniques for stand-alone, epicardial ablation of AF. This article (1) reviews the rationa...