Rheumatic Heart Disease III: Medical Management
Rheumatic Heart Disease I: Introduction
Rheumatic Heart Disease II: Clinical Manifestations and Diagnostic Studies
Rheumatic Heart Disease IV: Nursing Management
Anticoagulant Drugs: Vitamin K Antagonists and Direct Oral Anticoagulants
Anticoagulant Drugs: Low-Molecular-Weight Heparins
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Updated: Aug 30, 2025

The WATCHMAN Left Atrial Appendage Closure Device for Atrial Fibrillation
Published on: February 28, 2012
Stuart J Connolly1, Ganesan Karthikeyan1, Mpiko Ntsekhe1
1From the Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada (S.J.C., A.B., A.K., D.P., K.B., S.R., C.R., S.Y.); the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi (G.K.); the Division of Cardiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town (M.N., B.M.), and the South African Medical Research Council (L.Z.) - both in Cape Town, South Africa; Jimma University Medical Center, Jimma, Ethiopia (A.H.); the University of Gazira, Wad Madani, Sudan (A.E.S.); Mahalla Heart Center, El Mahalla El Kubra (A.E.G.), and Suez Canal University Hospital, Ismailia (F.M.) - both in Egypt; the Faculty of Medicine, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique (A.D.); the International Research Center, Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz, São Paulo (A.A.); the College of Medicine, University of the Philippines, Manila (A.M.L.D.); Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi (B.G.); the People's Hospital of Peking University (D.H.) and the Beijing Anzhen Hospital (C.M.) - both in Beijing; the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali, Kigali, Rwanda (E.R.K.); the University of Zimbabwe, College of Health Sciences, Harare (G.F.); Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez, Mexico City (J.A.G.-H.); the University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia (J.M.); the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Karachi, Pakistan (K.K.); Kamuzu Central Hospital, Lilongwe, Malawi (L.G.); Barrio Obrero Hospital, Asuncion, Paraguay (M.P.); the Department of Medicine, University of Ibadan-College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria (O.S.O.); Princess Marina Hospital, University of Botswana, Gaborone (O.J.M.-B.); Uganda Heart Institute, Kampala (P.L.); Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (P.C.); the B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal (S.K.S.); St. Elizabeth Catholic General Hospital, Kumbo, Cameroon (T.T.J.C.); the Department of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, the Department of Medicine, Western University, London, ON, and the Windsor Cardiac Centre, Windsor, ON - all in Canada (W.M.T.); the Department of Cardiology, Cardiology I, University Medical Center Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz (A.B.), and Bayer, Berlin (M.E.) - both in Germany.
Vitamin K antagonist therapy demonstrated superior outcomes compared to rivaroxaban for preventing cardiovascular events in patients with rheumatic heart disease-associated atrial fibrillation. No increased bleeding risk was observed with vitamin K antagonists.
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