Complete Obliteration of the Left Atrial Appendage: An Analysis of Epicardial Excision and Novel Pericardial Patch Exclusion.

Objective: Conventional epicardial excision is believed to be the most effective method of surgically obliterating the left atrial appendage (LAA), although incomplete resection and residual LAA volume may undermine its effectiveness. We sought to compare the impact of conventional epicardial excision with a novel LAA pericardial patch exclusion on residual LAA volume.

Methods: We performed LAA obliteration using pericardial patch exclusion, followed by conventional epicardial excision, in 27 cadaveric hearts.