Interventional retrieval by catheter of a migrated atrial appendage occluder located in the arcus aortae

We present the case of an 80-year-old male with atrial fibrillation with stroke/transient aphasia despite oral anticoagulation and an implanted Amplatzer LAA occluder (St. Jude Medical, St. Paul, MN, USA) from an external hospital. Control by transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE) before discharge revealed that the device had migrated into the aortic arch, almost completely obliterating the lumen of the aorta. The occluder’s orientation was lobe proximal, disc distal (Figure 1A-Figure 1C).

The aim was to capture the distally localised micro-screw of the disc. The disc maintains a distance between the lobe with its sharp stabilising wires at the ...