Left Atrial Appendage Closure (WATCHMAN)

A Left Atrial Appendage Closure (LAAC) device helps reduce the risk of stroke by deploying a small implant to prevent blood clots from entering the bloodstream. It is a first-of-its-kind alternative to long-term warfarin therapy for stroke risk reduction in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.

Because strokes for patients with atrial fibrillation are more frequently fatal and disabling, a closure procedure may be considered as a treatment option, especially in cases where warfarin is not well tolerated.

Patients with atrial fibrillation are five times more likely to have a stroke, and strokes in these types of patients are the number-one cause of long-term disability and third-leading cause of death. In patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation, more than 90 percent of stroke-causing clots that come from the left atrium are formed in the left atrial appendage.