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What Is the Role of Left Atrial Appendage Closure in the Rhythm Control of Atrial Fibrillation?

  • Arrhythmia (G Upadhyay, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Interventional catheter ablation approaches to the rhythm control of atrial fibrillation (AF) have advanced significantly in the past decade. The foundation of the catheter ablation in AF is electrical isolation of the pulmonary veins (PVI). However, PVI only in more advanced stages of AF (persistent AF) has only modest to poor success rates prompting a search for alternative and adjunctive procedures to improve the outcomes of ablation in persistent AF. The left atrial appendage (LAA) is well understood to be a primary source of emboli in AF but less well known be a trigger or driver for AF. Therefore, LAA exclusion is an attractive target to potentially improve AF ablation outcomes in more advanced stages of AF and possibly as an alternative to chronic oral anticoagulation in the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in AF. However, the precise role of LAA closure in the interventional approach to AF is still to be elucidated with ongoing clinical investigations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northwestern Medicine, 676 N. St. Clair Street, Suite 600, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Albert C. Lin MD & Bradley P. Knight MD

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  1. Albert C. Lin MD
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  2. Bradley P. Knight MD
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Correspondence to Albert C. Lin MD.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Arrhythmia

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Lin, A.C., Knight, B.P. What Is the Role of Left Atrial Appendage Closure in the Rhythm Control of Atrial Fibrillation?. Curr Treat Options Cardio Med 20, 24 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11936-018-0620-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11936-018-0620-4

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