Single antiplatelet therapy following Amplatzer left atrial appendage occlusion

The optimal antithrombotic therapy following left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) remains debated. Ideally, this therapy should effectively prevent device-related thrombosis (DRT) while minimising the associated bleeding risk.

We aimed to evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of a postprocedural single antiplatelet therapy (SAPT) strategy following Amplatzer LAAO in a large consecutive cohort.

This retrospective, single-centre, observational study included all patients discharged on SAPT after LAAO with the Amplatzer Cardiac Plug (ACP) or Amplatzer Amulet between March 2010 and December 2021 at Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark. Baseline, procedural, and imaging data were obtained locally, while clinical outcomes and medication data were extracted from the Danish national health registries.

A total of 553 patients underwent Amplatzer LAAO during the specified time frame. Of these, 431 (77.9%) high bleeding risk patients were discharged on SAPT with either acetylsalicylic acid (n=403, 72.9%) or clopidogrel (n=28, 5.1%). At 6 months, 173 (41.7%) patients were not on any antithrombotic therapy. The mean CHA2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED scores were 3.9±1.5 and 3.4±1.1, respectively. DRT was detected in 6 (1.5%) patients on 8-week follow-up imaging using cardiac computed tomography (n=386, 89.6%) or transoesophageal echocardiography (n=27, 6.3%). The 1-year ischaemic stroke rate was 2.2% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1-4.2). One-year rates for major bleeding and cardiovascular death were 5.9% (95% CI: 4.0-8.9) and 2.9% (95% CI: 1.6-5.1), respectively.

SAPT following Amplatzer LAAO displayed rates of DRT and stroke comparable to those reported with more intensive antithrombotic regimens. Meanwhile, we observed low rates of major bleeding.