Comparison of left atrial appendage occlusion versus non-vitamin-K antagonist oral anticoagulation in high-risk atrial fibrillation: an update

  • Transcatheter left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) is non-inferior to vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) in preventing thromboembolic events in atrial fibrillation (AF). Non-vitamin K antagonists (NOACs) have an improved safety profile over VKAs; however, evidence regarding their effect on cardiovascular and neurological outcomes relative to LAAO is limited. Up-to-date randomized trials or propensity-score-matched data comparing LAAO vs. NOACs in high-risk patients with AF were pooled in our study. A total of 2849 AF patients (LAAO: 1368, NOACs: 1481, mean age: 75 ± 7.5 yrs, 63.5% male) were enrolled. The mean CHA2DS2-VASc score was 4.3 ± 1.7, and the mean HAS-BLED score was 3.4 ± 1.2. The baseline characteristics were comparable between the two groups. In the LAAO group, the success rate of device implantation was 98.8%. During a mean follow-up of 2 years, as compared with NOACs, LAAO was associated with a significant reduction of ISTH major bleeding (p = 0.0002). There were no significant differences in terms of ischemic stroke (p = 0.61), ischemic stroke/thromboembolism (p = 0.63), ISTH major and clinically relevant minor bleeding (p = 0.73), cardiovascular death (p = 0.63), and all-cause mortality (p = 0.71). There was a trend toward reduction of combined major cardiovascular and neurological endpoints in the LAAO group (OR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.64–1.11, p = 0.12). In conclusion, for high-risk AF patients, LAAO is associated with a significant reduction of ISTH major bleeding without increased ischemic events, as compared to “contemporary NOACs”. The present data show the superior role of LAAO over NOACs among high-risk AF patients in terms of reduction of major bleeding; however, more randomized controlled trials are warranted.

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Author:Shaojie ChenORCiD, Kyoung-Ryul Julian ChunORCiDGND, Zhiyu Ling, Shaowen Liu, Lin Zhu, Jiazhi Wang, Alexandra Schratter, Willem-Jan Acou, Márcio Galindo KiuchiORCiD, Yuehui Yin, Boris SchmidtORCiD
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-621706
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/jcdd8060069
ISSN:2308-3425
Parent Title (English):Journal of cardiovascular development and disease
Publisher:MDPI AG
Place of publication:Basel
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2021/06/11
Date of first Publication:2021/06/11
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2021/12/21
Tag:anticoagulation; atrial fibrillation; left atrial appendage occlusion; stroke
Volume:8
Issue:6, art. 69
Page Number:9
First Page:1
Last Page:9
HeBIS-PPN:491336543
Institutes:Medizin
Dewey Decimal Classification:6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung 4.0