Transcatheter cardiac interventions are a fast evolving field. The past decade has seen the development of transcatheter aortic valve replacement, transcatheter mitral valve repair and replacement, septal defect closure devices and left atrial appendage closure devices for thromboprophylaxis. More than ever, medical imaging is taking a central role in the care of patients with structural heart ...

The gross anatomy of the cardiac lymphatic system draining the left ventricle was studied in 15 Yucatan minipigs and 2 regular swine. The findings confirm that the drainage pathways are similar to those of man and dog. After a coloring marker is injected near the apex of the left ventricle, one or more lymphatics are seen to ascend towards the left atrial appendage. Where there is more than one...

Patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation have a 4to 5-fold increase in strokes and that rhythm may be responsible for 15% to 20% of all strokes, particularly in the elderly. In this setting, thrombus in the left atrial appendage has been found to be the source of stroke in 90% of cases. Although oral anticoagulants have been found effective in reducing stroke rates, for a variety of issues...

OBJECTIVE Pulmonary vein isolation is curative in selected patients with atrial fibrillation. The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility and safety (midterm results) of video-assisted thoracoscopic epicardial pulmonary vein isolation. METHODS Twenty-seven patients (22 male patients) with atrial fibrillation (18 paroxysmal, 4 persistent, and 5 permanent; average age, 57 years) u...

Atrial fibrillation is the most comon arrhythmia in worldwide. Stroke risk in AF is 5-fold higher than sinus rhythm. The left atrial appendage is the most important source of atrial emboli. The standard surgical “cut-and-sew” Cox-maze III procedure is the golden choice for surgical treatment of any type of atrial fibrillation, with success rate higher than 90%. A full bi-atrial lesion pattern m...

BACKGROUND The multicenter PROTECT AF study (Watchman Left Atrial Appendage System for Embolic Protection in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation) was conducted to determine whether percutaneous left atrial appendage closure with a filter device (Watchman) was noninferior to warfarin for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation. METHODS AND RESULTS Patients (n=707) with nonvalvular atrial fibril...