Since the operation of mitral valvotomy was introduced, various attempts have been made to explain the high incidence of histologically active lesions in biopsies of the left atrial appendages removed at operation, in view of the low incidence of active lesions found at necropsy in clinically inactive cases of rheumatic heart disease. Several clinico-pathological studies have been made in biops...

The morphology of the atrial appendages was examined in 1842 specimen hearts from patients with congenital lesions. The external and internal features that permitted the identification of the right and left appendages were studied in detail in one tenth of the hearts. These results were compared with a similar analysis of 25 normal hearts. This study showed that criteria for identification of r...

We present a 71-year-old female patient with transient ischaemic attack. A thrombus located at the stump of previously ligated left atrial appendage was suspected as the cause of event.

The Authors Reply We greatly appreciate the letter to the editor submitted by Ozcan et al. As brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) can be a surrogate marker for left atrial appendage dysfunction and cardiogenic stroke in patients with acute ischemic stroke (1), their suggestion regarding the relationship between BNP and D-dimer may be useful for evaluating the fundamental thrombogenic mechanisms in ...

In an interview with the New York Times in 1923, George Mallory, who was to die on his third attempt to climb Mount Everest (his body was not found until in 1999), was asked why he wanted to climb the mountain. His reply was ‘‘Because it’s there’’. This phrase has since become iconic, used to justify any action or ambition that otherwise has no justification. In their article published in this ...

Atrial fibrillation (AF) remains an important clinical problem with severe complications such as stroke, which especially harms those with risk factors as calculated by the CHADS2 or CHA2DS2-VASc. Until now, no therapy has proven 100% effective against AF. Since the left atrial appendage (LAA) is the most prominent nonvalvular AF-related thromboembolic source and (novel) oral anticoagulant [(N)...

2015 ACC/HRS/SCAI left atrial appendage occlusion device societal overview Frederick A. Masoudi, MD, MSPH, FACC, (Chair, Writing Committee Member) Hugh Calkins, MD, FACC, FHRS, (Vice-Chair, Writing Committee Member) Clifford J. Kavinsky, MD, PhD, FACC, FSCAI, (Vice-Chair, Writing Committee Member) Joseph P. Drozda Jr., MD, FACC, (Writing Committee Member) Phillip Gainsley (Writing Committee Mem...

atrial appendage closure Shuang Li, MD, Wei Chen, MD, PhD, Shuang Li, MD, Dongdong Zhao, MD, PhD, FHRS, Kai Tang, MD, PhD, FHRS, Yat-yam Lam, MD, PhD, Yawei Xu, MD, PhD, FHRS From the Department of Cardiology, Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China, and Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of H...

INTRODUCTION In atrial fibrillation (AF) patients with an increased stroke risk, oral anticoagulation (OAC) is the standard treatment for stroke prevention. However, this therapy carries a high risk of major bleeding. Percutaneous closure of the left atrial appendage (LAA) is suggested as an alternative option for stroke prevention in AF patients with contraindication(s) for OAC treatment. MA...

The risk of embolic stroke is 5 times higher among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) compared with those without AF. More than 90% of thrombi form in the left atrial appendage (LAA) in AF. The purpose of this review is to determine the efficacy and safety of the left atrial appendage (LAA) closure via a percutaneous LAA ligation approach, thus preventing a stroke among patients with AF and...