Any experiences with Watchman Implant for A-Fib?

Thank you for the information. I have been wrestling with this decision for about 5 months. My afib was controlled well with Flecainide and Eliquis as my blood thinner for 4 years but I had an episode of gastrointestinal bleeding early this year requiring a blood transfusion. I just had my 2nd opinion by an electrophysiologist from Cleveland Clinic. It looks like the procedure is in my future but it's nice to hear firsthand from someone who has been through it. I appreciate your sharing this. I still get anxious when I think about inserting something within my heart though.

Mary, I had a Watchman implant nearly 2 years ago in December 2021. The procedure was straight forward and did involve 1 night in the hospital. The worst part for me was the need to lie still on my back for 6 hours after the procedure while the entry point in my groin closed and began clotting. Followup TEE’s have showed the Watchman to be in place and functioning as planned. To me, it has been invisible as I have no sensation that it is there. I do take a daily 325 mg aspirin, as directed, and have handled that as well. Having the Watchman gives me peace of mind about not having blood clots and an associated stroke. While I am not immune from blood clots forming and traveling to my brain, the risk of this happening has been reduced by having the Watchman. Before my procedure, I shared your concerns about having something inserted into my heart. I suggest reading as much as you can about it. Also, I found an animation of the procedure somewhere on line that helped me visualize exactly what was going to be done, which was helpful to me. Having been through it now, I feel that it was a safe, mostly painless procedure that yields great benefits and I would not hesitate to encourage you to go forward with it, if that is your wish. Best of luck to you!

Why bother to render an opinion when we have data from two studies (the "PROTECT" & "PREVAIL" studies) & a rigorous assessment of LAAO & implantation of the Watchman from one of America's preeminent electrophysiologists (cardiologist & clinical researcher), John Mandrola, M.D.?

Quoting the major points against LAAO & implantation of the Watchman--& the URL to Dr. Mandrola's review (in his role as the cardiology editor for Medscape) in his Medscape article: See: https://johnmandrola.substack.com/p/the-case-against-watchman-for-stroke:

"Six major points form the case against this procedure:

* Data from the two pivotal regulatory trials (Watchman vs Warfarin) do not convince me. There were higher rates of ischemic stroke in the Watchman arm.

* PROTECT and PREVAIL (studies of LAAO & the implantation of the Watchman) found no difference in major bleeding (if you count bleeding surrounding the procedure).

* Percutaneous closure requires anti-platelet therapy and at least two studies find bleeding rates on anti-platelets are not much different from anticoagulants.

* A foreign body in the heart can act as a nidus for clot formation. Device-related thrombus has been reported—and can occur many months after implant.

* The procedure to implant this device has a major complication rate ranging from 3-9%. So even if there were future benefits (there aren’t), patients start the gamble with a significant upfront risk of harm.

* There is dubious pathophysiological basis for this procedure. Recall that stroke is a systemic disease and LAA appendage closure is a focal solution."

Does anyone out there have experience with the Watchman device that is implanted in your heart to help prevent stroke from Afib? My cardiologist insists that I either take Eliquis or have the Watchman. I am a 70 year old, active female that has had a successful ablation and no Afib episodes for 2 years since the surgery. I discontinued the Eliquis because my primary care doctor said they just insist that you take it to "cover their butts". But now the heart doctor is disagreeing. I'm so confused about what to do.

Did you have an issue with Eliquis? My dad (age 86) takes it and has for several years since cardioversion successfully treated afib. We wonder if it is causing leg weakness. I don’t have information about the Watchman. Hope others will chime in,

I didn't have an issue except easy bruising and worrying about bleeding internally or if I got a cut or in an accident. At 80+ I don't think I'd worry about it...

Right. So far, dad hasn’t had any bleeding issues. He’s had dental work without bleeding problem, but he does bruise easily. I can see your concern, though.

Hello @koleke,

I combined your discussion with an existing discussion titled, "Any experiences with Watchman Implant for A-Fib?" - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/watchman-implant-for-a-fib/ so you could meet the many members who were inquiring about the same thing as yourself like @fiddlinchuck and @greta63.

Hello, Koleke,
As Justin indicated I have a Watchman Device implant as of December 2021. Leading up to that. I was diagnosed with paroxysmal (sp?) a fib and has been in Eloquis for about 1 year or so. There is a qualifying matrix that your dr. Needs to go through to ensure that you meet the requisite criteria for the Watchman device. I cannot recall the name of the screening test by your dr., but your score determines your eligibility. There are transesophogeal echocardiograms (TEE’s) that must be performed before during and after the Watchman implant procedure, and the TEE’s are a procedure in themselves, requiring a lighter form of anesthesia. The actual Watchman implant procedure went well for me, but did require an overnight in the hospital afterwards. I found animations online showing how they do it, whic was helpful to me, but also somewhat cringeworthy. Overall, I am very happy with the outcome. The presenc3 of the devic3 is invisible to me and there ar3 no sensations. I am very glad to be off of the anticoagulant meds, though I am now directed to take a 325 mg aspirin daily. Knowing what I know today, I would do it again. I hope that my experience is helpful to you. I wish you the very best.

I had a Watchman installed Jan 2023. At the time my instructions were an TEE in 3 months and another one in a year. Following the Tee, I no longer needed warfarin but they recommended a daily baby aspirin. I did not tolerate aspirin and stopped it per my cardiologist.
I moved across the country Oct ‘23. The yearly followup it’s not part of the protocol here.
I’ve been happy with that procedure. However, as I’ve noted elsewhere, we solved one problem but another cropped up! It’s a continuous fight, but don’t give up.