A new device is helping Greeley patients with irregular heartbeats live with a reduced risk of stroke and a greater quality of life.
In May, Banner Health’s North Colorado Medical Center became one of the first hospitals in northern Colorado to offer the new Watchman FLX Pro Left Atrial Appendage Closure device, which is designed to reduce a person’s risk of stroke.
The device was built upon the original Watchman FLX Device technology Banner has used since 2021.
Dr. David Bicknell, a cardiac electrophysiologist, performed the first eight implantations of the new device in May during National Stroke Awareness Month, according to a Banner Health news release. National Stroke Awareness Month spreads awareness about the increased risk of stroke for people with atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat described as feeling like a quivering heart.
Atrial fibrillation can cause blood to flow slowly in the upper chambers of the heart, which are known as the atria, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. This can lead to the formation of blood clots. A clot can then travel to the brain and cause a stroke by blocking blood flow through the arteries of the brain.
The risk of stroke is five times greater for those with atrial fibrillation — which impacts an estimated 7 million people in the United States — than for people with normal heart rhythms, the release said. That risk is even greater for women, patients over 65 and people with cardiomyopathy, diabetes, peripheral vascular disease or hypertension, as well as previous stroke patients with atrial fibrillation.
The new Watchman device is implanted to close off an area of the heart, the left atrial appendage, to avoid the formation of blood clots that can enter the bloodstream and lead to a stroke.
The left atrial appendage, a small pouch and extension of the left atrium, acts as a decompression chamber when atrial pressure is high, according to Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin. The appendage’s position, next to the pulmonary arteries that bring in blood from the lungs, can cause blood to pool in the pouch rather than flow into the next section of the heart.
More than 90% of stroke-causing clots that start in the heart form in the left atrial appendage.
By closing off the left atrial appendage, the Watchman device becomes an alternative to anticoagulation medication, or blood thinners, eliminating the need for lifelong use among atrial fibrillation patients.
About 83% of people with atrial fibrillation taking a blood thinner say they would be willing to try a different treatment to reduce their risk of stroke, according to the Watchman website.
Taking blood thinning medication means “daily pills, long-term usage, complications to surgeries and increased bleeding risk,” the website said. The longer a person is on blood thinners, the more at risk that person becomes for a bleeding episode, which can be serious or life-threatening.
The Watchman FLX Pro Device features a permanent polymer coating that reduces the risk of blood clots forming on the device, helps speed up recovery time and can treat a wider range of patients with its broader size matrix, the release said.
As soon as doctors put the device in a patient, the patient no longer needs anticoagulation medication and can switch to aspirin and medication that prevents blood platelets from sticking together, according to Bicknell. After the procedure, patients must obey one restriction: no heavy lifting for two to three days.
“The issue we were concerned with for patients coming off blood thinners with the original Watchman FLX Device is that they may have a small chance of forming clots, with less than 3% of patients forming clots on the device itself,” Bicknell said. “With this new coating on the improved device, clots are unlikely to form.”
The Watchman technology has treated more than 300,000 patients worldwide, the release said. The implant is a one-time procedure that takes about one hour and is completed under general anesthesia. The permanent device doesn’t require replacement and can’t be seen outside the body.
Patients who have undergone the procedure at North Colorado Medical Center typically stay overnight and leave the next day.
Those interested in the procedure can schedule a consultation with Bicknell in Greeley, Loveland or Fort Collins clinics or via telehealth, the release said. For more information, call the CardioVascular Institute of North Colorado Cardiology Clinic in Greeley at 970-810-0900.
