Patient Selection
Five consecutive patients (4 men and 1 woman; age 64-91 years) presented
for completion of LAA closure (LAAC) after a prior procedure resulted in
an unacceptable amount of residual leak. Patients referred for
consideration of closure of the residual LAA communication were
discussed in an interdisciplinary meeting with representatives from
neurology, electrophysiology, cardiac surgery, interventional and
general cardiology. The CHADS2,
CHA2DS2-VASc, and HAS-BLED scores were
calculated to estimate ischemic stroke and bleeding risk respectively.
Patients that were appropriate for LAAC were scheduled for the
procedure. Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval was obtained prior
to data collection.