Closing off the left atrial appendage (LAA) with a catheter-delivered device may allow patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) to forgo long-term warfarin therapy, according to a paper published in the August 15, 2009, issue of The Lancet.

Initial results from the PROTECT-AF (Watchman Left Atrial Appendage System for Embolic Protection in Patients with Atrial Fribrillation) trial were first presented at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session/i2 Summit on March 28, 2009. Subsequently, an FDA advisory panel narrowly recommended approval of the Watchman (Atritech, Plymouth, MN), a self-expanding nitinol structure with a permeable polyester fabric cover.

For the multicenter, non-inferiority trial, researchers ....

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