Percutaneous left atrial appendage closure for cerebrovascular accident prevention: rationale, indications, technical aspects, clinical results, and an Artificial Intelligence perspective

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia. The most feared complication of AF is thromboembolism. Oral anticoagulation (OAC) is the standard treatment to reduce thromboembolism occurrence in patients with AF. The rate of relevant bleeding, medical interactions and incompliance under OAC remains consistent. In this context, patients with AF at high risk for thromboembolism and with a contraindication to OAC may be considered as candidates for percutaneous left atrial appendage closure. In this review, we discuss the rationale, indications, technical aspects, and clinical results of left atrial appendage closure by means of the WATCHMAN® (Boston Scientific, MA, USA) device. Artificial Intelligence may offer innovative insights to the future of cardiology as an assistive mean for evaluating opportunities and risks of innovative solutions for patient's care (M. Murero's contribution)