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Arrhythmias and sudden death
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Exclusion versus preservation of the left atrial appendage in rheumatic mitral valve surgery
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  • Published on: 10 February 2021
    Incomplete surgical left atrial appendage closure increases thromboembolic complications in a patient with rheumatic mitral valve disease
    • Ahmet Güner, Cardiologist Department of Cardiology, Mehmet Akif Ersoy Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
    • Other Contributors:
      • Ezgi Gültekin Güner, Cardiologist
      • Macit Kalçık, Cardiologist
      • Mehmet Özkan, Cardiologist

    To the Editor,
    We have recently read with great interest the article by Kim et al entitled ‘‘Exclusion versus preservation of the left atrial appendage in rheumatic mitral valve surgery’’ [1]. We appreciate the authors for their study describing the relationship of preservation of the left atrial appendage (LAA) to the risk of adverse clinical events in patients with rheumatic mitral valve disease. On the other hand, we believe that there are several major drawbacks that need to be addressed.
    First of all, the LAA can be excluded from the systemic circula¬tion by obliterating its orifice with or without excising the body of the appendage [2]. During the two decades, mechanical occlusion of the LAA including the surgical approach has been adopted by clinicians as a potential approach for stroke prevention in selected patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) [2]. Surgical LAA ligation has been attempted with or without enabling devices. Although routine surgical LAA occlusion has been recommended by some, the evidence base for its actual benefit remains limited and conflicting. Surgical closure particularly using suture ligation can yield incomplete surgical left atrial appendage closure (iSLC) in more than one-third of the patients [2, 3]. Previously, Katz et al evaluated 50 patients who underwent surgical LAA closure in association with mitral valve surgery and similarly reported iSLC in 36% of their patients [3]. The readers may wonder whether routine p...

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    Conflict of Interest:
    None declared.