Left Atrial Appendage Closure vs. Novel Anticoagulation Agents in Atrial Fibrillation
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2019-07-20
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia with a prevalence of 1-2%.
Without antithrombotic treatment, the annual risk of a cardioembolic event is 5-6%. The
source of a cardioembolic event is a thrombus, which usually forms in the left atrial
appendage (LAA). The prevention of cardioembolic events involves treatment with anticoagulant
drugs, which were limited to, until recently, vitamin K antagonists (e.g. warfarin).
Anticoagulant treatment with warfarin can lead to adverse bleeding events, some of which can
be life threatening. Recently, two new options for thrombus prevention have been developed.
The first is the novel anticoagulants (NOAC), which were associated with slightly better
safety profiles due to a lower frequency of intracranial bleeding in large randomized trials
. The second option involves interventional occlusion of the LAA. The aim of this project is
to compare the LAA occlusion intervention to NOAC pharmacological treatment in a randomized
multicenter study of AF patients at high risk of a cardioembolic event.