Left atrial appendage device closure in a private hospital in the Kingdom

Left atrial appendage device closure in a private hospital in the Kingdom

The Catheter Lab at the International Medical Center (IMC) in Jeddah performed the first successful catheter-based left atrial appendage closure by implanting a watchman device to prevent clot formation in the left atrium in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Prof. Walid Hassan, Director of Cardiac Center and Senior Consultant of Interventional Cardiology at IMC, stated that this new procedure is considered the latest techniques to protect atrial fibrillation patients from the risk of forming small clots that may reach the brain, causing strokes, which is the most common complications of that disease.

Dr. Mohammed Al Hanashl, Consultant of Electrophysiology at IMC, said that this procedure is considered the magic solution for many patients whose health condition prevents them from taking strong blood thinners, which is necessary to prevent the formation of clots in such cases for it might cause severe bleeding.
He added that the patient who underwent this operation is an example of these cases, as she suffers from atrial fibrillation, has had gastrointestinal bleeding several times, and is contraindicated from taking blood thinners.

Dr. Alaaudin Khalil, Consultant of Cardiology and the Head of Echo Unit at IMC, also addressed the importance of conducting transesophageal echocardiogram in such cases to make the rigorous measurement required for the atrial appendage and to determine the size of the closure device before the procedure. He also indicated the importance of transesophageal echocardiogram during the procedure as it guides the operator during the implementation of the device and making sure that the appendage has been appropriately closed before concluding the procedure.

Professor Walid Hassan concluded his speech by reaching that this state of the art technique is a considered distinctive addition to IMC’s Cardiac Center record, which also includes transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), catheter device closure of atrial and ventricular septal defects, and catheter balloon dilatation of mitral valve stenosis.