BACKGROUND Transcatheter left atrial appendage closure is an alternative therapy for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation patients. These procedures are currently guided with transesophageal echocardiography and fluoroscopy in most centers. As intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) is commonly used in other catheter-based procedures, we sought to determine the safety and effectiveness of intra...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether there is significant atrial or atrial appendage enlargement or functional remodelling as a result of one to two months of sustained atrial fibrillation, a duration similar to that experienced by patients undergoing warfarin anticoagulation before elective cardioversion. METHODS To test the hypothesis that left atrial and left atrial appendage enlargement develop...

BACKGROUND Left atrial appendage obliteration was historically ineffective for the prevention of postoperative stroke in patients with rheumatic atrial fibrillation who underwent operative mitral valvotomy. It is, however, a routine part of modern "curative" operations for nonrheumatic atrial fibrillation, such as the maze and corridor procedures. METHODS To assess the potential of left atria...

Congenital left atrial appendage aneurysm is rarely diagnosed on the basis of an abnormal cardiac silhouette. Patients with a left atrial appendage aneurysm often present with symptoms of systemic emboli or supraventricular arrhythmias. A patient with left atrial appendage aneurysm was diagnosed by correlation of two noninvasive techniques echocardiography and radionuclide scintiscanning. Angio...

Although the left atrial appendage has a quite unique structure, its function remains unclear. To clarify the function of the left atrial appendage, changes in its anteroposterior, transverse and longitudinal dimensions, and in the anteroposterior dimension of the left atrial body were measured by a sonomicrometer during volume loading in open chest dogs. In the control state, fractional shorte...

OBJECTIVES This study examined the effect of endocardial and transthoracic direct current (DC) shocks on left atrial and left atrial appendage function in humans with structural heart disease. BACKGROUND DC cardioversion of atrial fibrillation (AF) to sinus rhythm is associated with transient left atrial and left atrial appendage dysfunction and the development of spontaneous echo contrast (S...

Thromboembolic stroke is the most serious complication in patients suffering from Atrial Fibrillation. Atrial thrombi have a predilection to form in the left atrial appendage. Accordingly, oral anticoagulation is recommended for patients with high risk of stroke. However, it is widely underused and problems of compliance are associated with serious risk of bleeding or inefficacy. In these patie...

AIMS Left atrial appendage device occlusion is an increasingly accepted therapy for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation. The feasibility and safety of left atrial catheter ablation procedures in the presence of a left atrial appendage device implant is unclear. We report on 10 cases of successful left atrial catheter ablation therapy for atrial fibrillation in patients with an implanted Wa...