Feasibility and perioperative safety of the combined procedure of catheter ablation and watchman left atrial appendage closure / 中华心血管病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective: We aimed to explore the feasibility and perioperative safety of performing catheter ablation and left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) in a single (one-stop) session in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: This study is an observational study. Consecutive AF patients who underwent the combined procedure of catheter ablation and LAAC with Watchman device of Xinhua Hospital in Shanghai between March 2017 and May 2019 were prospectively enrolled. Baseline, intra-and peri-procedural parameters were evaluated. Results: A total of 358 AF patients (189 males, (69.0±8.0) years) underwent the one-stop procedure. The CHA2DS2-VASc score was 3.2±1.5 and HAS-BLED score was 2.4±1.1, respectively in this patient cohort. Pulmonary vein isolation was achieved in all patients, while additional linear ablation was applied in 180 (50.3%) patients, yielding immediate success rate of 99.7%. Successful Watchman implantation was achieved in all patients. The perioperative serious adverse event occurred in 14 cases (3.9%). including 6 pericardial effusions (1.7%), 1 stroke (0.3%) and 5 vascular complications (1.4%), yielding procedure-related complication rate of 3.4%. In addition, 2 (0.6%) new-onset heart failures occurred postoperatively. There was no major bleeding or death during the perioperative period. Conclusions: Combined catheter ablation and LAAC can be successfully and safely performed in AF patients with high stroke risk. Follow-up data are needed to evaluate the outcome of this one-stop procedure.