Intracardiac vs Transesophageal Echocardiography for Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion With Watchman FLX in the U.S.
Ferro E, Alkhouli M, Nair D, Kapadia S, Hsu J, Gibson D, Freeman J, Price M, Roy K, Allocco D, Yeh R, Piccini J. Intracardiac vs Transesophageal Echocardiography for Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion With Watchman FLX in the U.S. JACC Clinical Electrophysiology 2023, 9: 2587-2599. PMID: 37831030, DOI: 10.1016/j.jacep.2023.08.004.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsAtrial appendage occlusionTransesophageal echocardiographyIntracardiac echocardiographyBaseline characteristicsAppendage occlusionLeft atrial appendage occlusionPericardial effusion rateSuccessful device implantationAdverse event ratesSimilar baseline characteristicsUnadjusted mortality ratesHigh rateICE patientsTEE patientsPericardial effusionPivotal trialsDevice implantationGeneral anesthesiaAdjusted comparisonsProcedural timeLAAO devicesDevice deliveryMortality rateEvent ratesEchocardiography