DALLAS, April 9 A tiny device implanted into the heart to prevent blood clots could reduce the risk of strokes in people with atrial fibrillation (AF), researchers report in todays rapid access publication of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
About 2 million Americans have been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, a type of irregular heartbeat. About 15 percent of strokes occur in people with atrial fibrillation. Each year, about 600,000 Americans suffer a new or recurrent stroke.
Previous studies indicate that more than 90 percent of nonrheumatic AF-related strokes result from a blood clot that forms in the left atrial appendage, a small, thumb-shaped pouch in the hearts left upper chamber. Such clots can block a blood vessel leading to the brain, causing a stroke.
In a multicenter trial, German researchers successfully sealed off the left atrial appendage of 15 chronic AF patients with a novel procedure called PLAATO.
PLAATO, which stands for percutaneous left atrial appendage transcatheter occlusion, uses a catheter to place a blocking device at the mouth of the appendage.
The left atrial appendage has no purpose; no one needs it, says study author Horst Sievert, M.D. Its only function is to form clots. It can be blocked with no disadvantage to the patient.
The blocking device is a self-expanding metal cage made of nitinol that pops open as the metal warms up inside the body. The cage is covered with a membrane, which both blocks the atrial appendage and allows normal tissue to grow into the device.
This study was to show that PLAATO was technically feasible, says Sievert, a senior consultant at the Cardiovascular Center of Bethanien Hospital in Frankfurt, Germany. Not only was it possible, but after six months we have had no strokes and no late complications.
Stroke is the most serious consequence of AF.
The anti-clotting drug warfarin can prevent strokes in AF patients. However,
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Contact: Carole Bullock
carole.bullock@heart.org
214-706-1279
American Heart Association
8-Apr-2002