Abstract
Left atrial appendage is the most frequent place of blood clot formation in heart cavities. The thrombus formation increases a risk of a systemic embolism especially in patients with a permanent atrial fibrillation.
The standard preventive treatment is the oral anticoagulation therapy. Another possible treatment is an exclusion of a left atrial appendage.
We present current overview of risks and benefits of surgical and percutaneous elimination of a left atrial appendage. We present the first experience with AMPLATZER Cardiac Plug system in an elimination of a left atrial appendage.
We concluded that an exclusion of left atrial appendage could become a useful possibility of prevention of systemic embolization in patients with an atrial fibrillation, but is not still an alternative therapy for anticoagulation therapy at present.