Abstract 13614: Left Atrial Appendage Closure Significantly Reduces the Incidence of Post-operative Cerebrovascular Accidents in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery: Analysis Based on a Single Center Prospective Observational Study

Background: Post-operative cerebrovascular accidents (CVA) are associated with increased mortality and morbidity in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Atrial fibrillation (AF) has been considered as a major risk factor of CVA. Since the left atrial appendage (LAA) is the main source of emboli, we have performed simultaneous LAA closure or amputation (LAAC) in all patients with enlarged left atrium except for those contraindicated. In the present study, we investigated the effect of LAAC on preventing post-operative CVA. Methods: The study prospectively enrolled 1856 consecutive patients (69.1% male, mean age 66.8±12.2 year old) undergoing cardiac surgery between January 2009 and October 2013 at our institution, including 805 cases (43.3%) of coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) and 803 cases (43.3%) of valvular surgery. The incidence of early post-operative CVA in patients with and without LAAC was compared. We further stratified patients according to their risk of CVA using CHA2DS2-VASc score; dichoto...