Percutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion in 2016

Percutaneous left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion has been developed as an alternative, non-pharmacological treatment for stroke prevention in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF)1-4. Oral anticoagulation (OAC) with warfarin or novel oral anticoagulation agents (NOACs), such as dabigatran, rivaroxaban, apixaban, etc., has been considered the gold standard therapy5. However, OAC therapy with any of the current agents is associated with an increased risk of bleeding, the potential for drug-drug interactions such as triple therapy (OAC and two antiplatelet drugs), and compliance both early and later, with up to 20-25% of patients discontinuing the drugs at intermediate-term follow-up, thus ...