Health & Fitness
Mercy Ranks Third in Stroke Trial Enrollees: Next phase allows all qualifying patients to get implant
Area patients with atrial fibrillation have benefitted from Mercy's participation in the PREVAIL clinical trial, comparing the WATCHMAN® Left Atrial Appendage Closure Device to medication therapy.
Thirty two patients in St. Louis with atrial fibrillation have benefitted from Mercy Hospital St. Louis’ participation in the PREVAIL clinical trial, comparing the WATCHMAN® Left Atrial Appendage Closure Device to long-term warfarin therapy.
The PREVAIL trial registered its 400th patient in June, officially completing “randomized” enrollment period of the trial. Mercy ranks third nationally among trial sites for the number of patients enrolled and is the only trial location in the St. Louis area.
The next phase of the trial allows all patients who meet the criteria to have the WATCHMAN® Device implant without being randomized to warfarin therapy alone.
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“This is an incredible opportunity for our patients,” said Dr. Mauricio Sanchez, Mercy electrophysiologist and principle investigator for the trial. “Patients who have received the device have done extremely well and are grateful to not only be off blood thinners but have a decreased risk of stroke as well.”
The WATCHMAN® Device is designed to keep harmful blood clots from entering the patient’s blood stream, causing a stroke. Patients with atrial fibrillation, the most common heart-rhythm disorder affecting over 5 million people worldwide, are at an increased risk of stroke because blood can pool in the left atrium appendage (LAA) ultimately forming clots.
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Typically patients with AF take blood thinning medications, such as warfarin, for life to prevent these clots from forming in the heart. These medications require frequent monitoring and have diet and other drug interactions causing compliance issues.
The procedure to implant the WATCHMAN® Device into the heart is done via a flexible tube (catheter) through a vein in the groin. The device is designed to prevent blood flow into the left atrial appendage potentially reducing the risk of stroke and eliminating the need for long term use of blood thinning medications.
The WATCHMAN® Left Atrial Appendage Closure Technology was developed by Atritech, Inc., headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn.