Key clinical point: In-hospital complication rates in more than 38,000 U.S. patients undergoing implantation of the Watchman left atrial appendage occlusion device in real-world clinical practice as recorded in the mandatory national registry were lower than in the pivotal clinical trials, even though the registry patients were older and had more comorbidities.

Major finding: In-hospital stroke was rare in connection with Watchman implantation, with a rate of 0.17%.

Study details: This report from the NCDR LAAO Registry focused on in-hospital complication rates in 38,158 patients who underwent Watchman procedures performed by 1,318 physicians at 495 U.S. hospitals during 2016-2018.

Disclosures: The study presenter reported serving as a consultant to Boston Scientific, which markets the Watchman device, as well as to Medtronic, Janssen, and Biosense Webster.