David J McCormack: Hybrid LAA Closure Prevents Recurrent Stroke Without Blood Thinners
David J McCormack, Professor of Surgical Innovation at The University of Waikato, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Dr Uddaka Wijesinghe sharing our case at the Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society meeting (APHRS 2026) in Busan this week, with international heart rhythm specialists.
This man had atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat that lets clots form in the heart and travel to the brain.
Blood thinners are the usual protection, but bleeding in his brain ruled them out.
So in 2018 a team fitted a device in his heart to block the pocket where those clots form.
The seal was incomplete.
Clots kept getting past the device into the circulation and he had a stroke, bled again, then had a run of mini-strokes.
The shape and position of the hole meant the cardiologists judged a plug from inside would not seal it.
So we opened the heart.
We checked whether the device could come out, but after seven years it was firmly grown in, with a 1 cm gap at the edge.
We stitched the gap closed and left the device in place. Three months on, no further events and no blood thinners.
Uddaka, well done for the initiative, and for sharing the learning and experience.
Great to work with Nishith Patel, Robert Gerber, Pranesh Jogia and Kate Goldstone to deliver this outcome.
Thanks to the teams Braemar Hospital, Heart Surgeon Group for supporting the case.”
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