Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion during Cardiac Surgery to Prevent Stroke

Richard P Whitlock¹, Emilie P Belley-Cote¹, Domenico Paparella¹+29

• ¹From McMaster University (R.P.W., E.P.B.-C., J.S.H., M.S., P.J.D., J.N., K. Balasubramanian, A.L., S.Y., S.J.C.), Hamilton Health Sciences (R.P.W., E.P.B.-C., J.S.H., K. Brady, M.S., P.J.D., J.V., A.L., S.Y., S.J.C.), and the Population Health Research Institute (R.P.W., E.P.B.-C., J.S.H., K. Brady, M.S., P.J.D., J.N., K. Balasubramanian, J.V., A.L., S.Y., S.J.C.), Hamilton, ON, Southlake Regional Health Centre, Newmarket, ON (K.H.T.T.), the University of Toronto and Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto (C.D.M.), and Quebec Heart and Lung Institute, Quebec, QC (P.V.) - all in Canada; University of Foggia, Foggia (D.P.), Santa Maria Hospital, Gruppo Villa Maria Care and Research, Bari (D.P.), and the University of Pisa, Pisa (A.C.) - all in Italy; Rhön-Klinikum Campus Bad Neustadt, Bad Neustadt (W.R.), and University Hospital Giessen, Giessen (A.B.) - both in Germany; the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague (P.B.), and the Center of Cardiovascular Surgery and Transplantation, Brno (P.F.) - both in the Czech Republic; "G. Papanikolaou" Hospital (A.J.B.) and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (G.I.T.) - both in Thessaloniki, Greece; E. Meshalkin National Medical Research Center, Novosibirsk, Russia (A.B.-P.); the University of Louisville, Louisville, KY (M.S.S.); the University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia (A.G.R.); Auckland City Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand (S.M.); Amphia Ziekenhuis, Breda (M.A.), and Medical Center Leeuwarden, Leeuwarden (R.J.F.) - both in the Netherlands; the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London (P.P.P.); and the International Research Center, Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz, São Paulo (Á.A.).