Left atrial appendage closure devices for cardiovascular risk reduction in atrial fibrillation patients

Ignacio Cruz-Gonzalez,* Juan Carlos Rama-Merchan,* Javier Rodriguez-Collado, Javier Martin-Moreiras, Alejandro Diego-Nieto, Antonio Arribas-Jimenez, Pedro Luís SanchezDepartment of Cardiology, University Hospital of Cardiology and IBSAL, Salamanca, Spain *Ignacio Cruz-Gonzalez and Juan Carlos Rama-Merchan have contributed equally to this work and should be considered co-first authors Abstract: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia in clinical practice. AF is associated with a 4–5-fold increased risk of stroke and systemic embolism. Oral anticoagulant is the first-line therapy for this purpose, but it has various limitations and is often contraindicated or underutilized. Autopsy and surgical data have suggested that 90% of atrial thrombi in nonvalvular AF patients originate from the left atrial appendage, leading to the development of percutaneous closure for thromboembolic prevention. This paper examines the current evidence on left atrial appendage closure devices for cardiovascular risk reduction in AF patients. Keywords: atrial fibrillation, left atrial appendage, stroke, oral anticoagulant, percutaneous closure, thromboembolic preventio