Doctors & patients are saying about 'A-Fib.com'...
"A-Fib.com is a great web site for patients, that is unequaled by anything else out there."
Dr. Douglas L. Packer, MD, FHRS, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
"Jill and I put you and your work in our prayers every night. What you do to help people through this [A-Fib] process is really incredible."
Jill and Steve Douglas, East Troy, WI
“I really appreciate all the information on your website as it allows me to be a better informed patient and to know what questions to ask my EP.
Faye Spencer, Boise, ID, April 2017
“I think your site has helped a lot of patients.”Dr. Hugh G. Calkins, MD Johns Hopkins,
Baltimore, MD
The Watchman Device: My Top 5 Articles
You’re on a blood thinner for your increased stroke risk from A-Fib. But you hate it.
Is the monthly testing or diet restrictions a hassle? Is the increased risk of bleeding stressful? Have you developed side effects, e.g. gastrointestinal problems or poor kidney function? Maybe you just don’t want a lifetime on meds.
Or, perhaps you’re unable to take a blood thinner for other medical reasons. What do you do?
WATCHMAN™ Occlusion Device: The Alternative to Blood Thinners
There is an alternative to taking blood thinners―closing off your Left Atrial Appendage (LAA) with the Watchman™, an occlusion device. The LAA, a small sack located at the top of your left atrium, is where 90-95% of A-Fib strokes originate.
Inserting the Watchman is a very low risk procedure that takes as little as 20 minutes to install. Afterward, you usually don’t need to be on a blood thinner.
Review these articles to learn more about the Watchman:
1. The Watchman™ Device: The Alternative to Blood Thinners
2. Clinical Trials Results: Watchman Better Than a Lifetime on Warfarin
3. A Watchman and Ablation Combo? Everything You Never Thought to Ask
4. Technology & Innovations: The Watchman Device
5. Steve’s List of EPs Installing the Watchman Device
Bonus: Video about the Watchman
Closure of the Left Atrial Appendage: The Watchman Device
Animation shows how the Watchman is inserted and positioned in the left atrial appendage (LAA) using a catheter; then how heart tissue grows over the Watchman, closing off the opening of the LAA trapping any blood clots. (1:04)
