Clinical Characteristics and in-Hospital Outcomes of Patients Undergoing Left Atrial Appendage Closure

Abstract

Introduction: Percutaneous left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) is considered in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) who cannot receive long-term anticoagulant therapy or who experience thromboembolism despite anticoagulant therapy. The structural feature of the left atrial appendage (LAA) and high variability of the clinical features of the patients endorse the difficulty of the procedure. In this study, it was aimed to present our single-center LAAC experience and in-hospital follow-up results of the patients. Patients and Methods: Patients who had undergone LAAC in our cardiology clinic between 2017 and 2022 were included in the study retrospectively. All clinical, laboratory and imaging characteristics of the patients and in-hospital follow-up results were evaluated. Results: Median age of 29 patients included in the study was 78 years (65-82, IQR= 25-75) and 17 were males (58.6%). Median score of CHA2 DS2 -VASc was 4 (4-6, IQR= 25-75). In addition, median value of the HASBLED score was 3 (3-4, IQR= 25-75). The rate of complete closure, minor bleeding during the procedure, and pericardial tamponade were 27 (93.1%), 1 (3.4%), and 1 (3.4%) respectively, and the device was dislocated immediately after the procedure in one patient (3.4%). The most common type of LAA appendix was chicken wings 15 (51.7%). Conclusion: Success rate of the LAAC procedure was high in this single-center study conducted in our country with a relatively high number of patients.