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Be great if you didn't need to stay on aspirin for the rest of your life after closing off the LAA appendage. A seminar I attended on AFIB noted that aspirin was virtually useless in preventing strokes.

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jpeters
Be great if you didn't need to stay on aspirin for the rest of your life after closing off the LAA appendage. A seminar I attended on AFIB noted that aspirin was virtually useless in preventing strokes.

Aspirin is good at preventing clots from forming on the device itself, which is why it's used during the first six weeks after the device is inserted. But your heart endothealizes over the device in that time, completely covering the device with your own heart tissue, so that need goes away after about six weeks. It's doubtful that you need to remain on aspirin after that and in Europe it's standard practice to discontinue it.

Continued use of aspirin keeps coming out on searches:

[www.secondscount.org]
"You probably will have to continue taking aspirin."



[myheart.net]
"In general, after the Warfarin has been stopped, the aspirin dose will be increased to 325 mg and Plavix 75 mg daily is started also until the 6-month point. After 6-months usually aspirin alone is given at 325 mg daily."



"My dad had a watchman procedure done in August, 2017. Prior the watchman procedure in July his blood work was completely normal. The procedure went well and he is now on baby aspirin"


[www.petoskeynews.com]

"They’re then on aspirin and Plavix, which is like a super-charged aspirin, for six months and then on baby aspirin indefinitely.”

Also found this:

[heart.bmj.com]
" Obliteration or amputation of the LAA may help to reduce the risk of thromboembolism, but this may result in undesirable physiological sequelae such as reduced atrial compliance and a reduced capacity for ANF secretion in response to pressure and volume overload."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/13/2018 11:48AM by jpeters.

I am waiting for time tested devices before I try something like the Watchman. I despise blood thinners but NSR is a beautiful thing

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jpeters
Continued use of aspirin keeps coming out on searches:

Sure, but keep in mind that most of what's published out there is several years old, and naturally everyone approached it with a great deal of caution in the early days. But what I posted above is from personal communications with Drs. Natale and Rodney Horton, both of whom have done thousands of Watchman implants and are leaders in the field. Lifelong aspirin is not required. The whole reason for aspirin is because you have a foreign object in contact with the blood flow, and clots tend to form on foreign objects. However, within about 45 days the heart endothealizes over the device, completely encasing it. Once that happens, there is no foreign object for platelets to adhere to, the risk is gone, and there's no need for continued aspirin.

Also, ANP production isn't reduced as they initially thought it might be because the RAA takes over and easily produces all that the body needs.

Incidentally, I'm going to be receiving a Watchman sometime later this summer so I have a pretty big vested interest in this. I already know for a fact I won't be required to take aspirin for life.

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Carey



Incidentally, I'm going to be receiving a Watchman sometime later this summer so I have a pretty big vested interest in this. I already know for a fact I won't be required to take aspirin for life.

Glad to hear this, and hope it all goes well for you. Keep us posted.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/2018 12:54AM by jpeters.

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Carey



Incidentally, I'm going to be receiving a Watchman sometime later this summer so I have a pretty big vested interest in this. I already know for a fact I won't be required to take aspirin for life.

Glad to hear this, and hope it goes well. Keep us posted.