Cathether based – non surgical procedure can prevent strokes

by Rose Broyles

Last month, physicians at Mt. Sinai Medical Center performed the first procedure in the U.S. using sutures to tie off a left appendage which is the source of blood clots leading to stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation. I wish this had been available for Dad years ago. Unfortunately, Dad has so much going on with him I’d be scared to even let him try something like this because of his other existing pre-conditions. But for others, this looks like a promising breakthrough.

The procedure

The procedure was performed by Vivek Y. Reddy, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Service at Mount Sinai Heart, and Srinivas R. Dukkipati, MD, Director of Mount Sinai’s Experimental Electrophysiology Laboratory. Using general anesthesia, the doctors guided two catheters into the patient’s heart to seal the LAA with a pre-tied suture loop. The technique has been shown to be a safe alternative to drug therapies such as the blood thinner warfarin (Coumadin) that can have serious side effects, as well as open-heart surgery, and more invasive implant surgery.

Compared to a lifetime of medication therapy, or other surgical modalities, a one-time, non-surgical procedure to relieve the complications of AFib offers a whole new paradigm,” said Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, The Mount Sinai Medical Center.

Approximately 6 million U.S. adults have been diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation– a rapid and irregular heart beat that can cause serious complications, including stroke and early death. Warfarin (Coumadin) is necessary for the prevention of life-threatening blood clots. About a quarter of all strokes are caused by Atrial Fibrillation– this was a reason for my dad’s stroke. Using warfarin is necessary for the prevention of blood clots, however, its levels must be maintained constantly otherwise continuous bleeding can occur if there is bruising or a bad fall. My dad has to get his “INR” checked every month IF his therapeutic levels are between 2.0-2.9. However, any number that falls below or increases above the required levels means an adjustment of medication and a weekly blood test until those levels are achieved.

Dr. Reddy explained that the non-invasive procedure could be a permanent means to stroke prevention for patients who cannot be on long-term anticoagulation therapy.

Doctors place a pre-tied suture loop on the outside of the LAA using an approach similar to what is used in surgery. The difference however, is there are no surgical incisions required, rather they use needle punctures to insert the catheters.

This procedure was aided by the LARIAT Suture Delivery Device, which was developed by SentreHEART, Inc., and approved by the FDA in May.

Related articles by Zemanta

• New drug dramatically better for quivering hearts (newswire.ca)
• Irregular heartbeat quintuples stroke risk (ctv.ca)