Long-Term Efficacy and Safety of Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion (LAAO) vs Direct Oral Anticoagulation (DOAC) in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Prevention of stroke by anticoagulation is essential in patients with Atrial fibrillation (AF); with direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) being preferred over warfarin in most patients. The Long-term efficacy and safety of DOACs vs. Left Atrial Appendage Oc-clusion (LAAO) remain unknown. Methods: Electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, Scopus) were searched from inception to February 10th, 2021. The primary endpoint was cardiovascular mortality. Secondary outcomes included incidence of ischemic stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA) and systemicembolism. The safety endpoint was clinically relevant bleeding (a composite of major or minor clinically relevant bleeding). Results: A total of three studies with 3039 participants (LAAO = 1465; DOACs = 1574) were included. Mean age was 74.2 and 75.3 years in the LAAO and DOAC group respectively. Average follow-up period was 2 years. There was no difference in terms of cardiac mortality (RR 0.90, 95% CI 0.40-2.03; p = 0.81), ischemic stroke/TIA (RR 1.15, 95% CI 0.80-1.65; p = 0.46; I2 = 0) and clinically significant bleeding (RR 0.77, 95% CI 0.50-1.17; p = 0.22; I2 = 69) between the groups. Conclusions: Among patients with AF, LAAO was comparable to DOACs with similar efficacy and safety profiles.