Mount Sinai first with new technique to prevent a major cause for heart-related stroke (USA)

"Physicians at The Mount Sinai Medical Center were the first in the USA to perform a non-surgical procedure using sutures to tie off a left atrial appendage, which is the source of blood clots leading to stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation. AFib is the most common sustained heart-rhythm disorder in the United States. The procedure was performed Wednesday by Vivek Y. Reddy, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Service at Mount Sinai Heart, and his colleague, Srinivas R. Dukkipati, MD, Director of Mount Sinai's Experimental Electrophysiology Laboratory. With the patient under general anesthesia, the physicians guided two catheters into the patient's heart to seal the LAA with a pre-tied suture loop. The technique is a safe alternative to drug therapies such as the blood thinner warfarin (Coumadin) that can have serious side effects, as well as open-heart surgery, and more invasive implant surgery" - EurekAlert