Abstract
Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia worldwide and is a major risk factor for embolic stroke. For patients with atrial fibrillation who are unable to tolerate systemic anticoagulation, left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion has been shown to mitigate stroke risk. In this article, we describe the vital role of the echocardiographer in intraprocedural guidance of percutaneous LAA occlusion procedures as well as in the pre- and post-procedure assessment of these patients. A few percutaneously delivered devices for LAA exclusion from the systemic circulation are available in contemporary practice. These devices employ an either exclusive endocardial LAA occlusion approach, such as the Watchman (Boston Scientific, Maple Grove, MN) and Amulet (St. Jude Medical, Minneapolis, MN), or both an endocardial and pericardial (epicardial) approach such as the Lariat procedure (SentreHEART, Palo Alto, CA). Two- and three-dimension transesophageal echocardiography is critical for patient selection, procedure planning, procedural guidance, and ensuring satisfactory immediate as well as long-term LAA occlusion/exclusion efficacy. This review will provide an overview of the role of the echocardiographer in all aspects of LAA occlusion/exclusion procedures for the most commonly used commercially available devices in current practice.
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