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Watchman LAA Occluder Bounces Back as Alternative to OAC in CHAMPION-AF
The WATCHMAN FLX device reduced major bleeding by 45% versus oral anticoagulants in 3,000 atrial fibrillation patients, meeting all safety and efficacy endpoints in a global trial.
- On Saturday, March 28, 2026, Boston Scientific Corporation announced that the CHAMPION-AF clinical trial met all primary and secondary endpoints, evaluating the WATCHMAN FLX device as a first-line stroke risk reduction option for patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.
- Atrial fibrillation affects approximately 59 million people worldwide, increasing stroke risk fivefold; more than 90% of heart-related blood clots in patients with NVAF form in the left atrial appendage, which WATCHMAN technology permanently closes in a single procedure.
- In the randomized trial of 3,000 patients, the WATCHMAN FLX device achieved non-inferiority to NOACs for primary efficacy endpoints at 36 months, demonstrating a 45% relative reduction in non-procedural bleeding risk compared to blood thinners.
- Saibal Kar of Los Robles Medical Center reported that device-based closure was non-inferior to anticoagulation therapy, concluding "Watchman FLX left atrial appendage closure should be considered as an alternative to NOACs in a shared decision-making process."
- Patient follow-up in the CHAMPION-AF trial will continue through five years to assess ischemic stroke and systemic embolism rates, while clinicians await findings from the CATALYST trial comparing different left atrial appendage closure devices.
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23 Articles
Watchman LAA Occluder Bounces Back as Alternative to OAC in CHAMPION-AF
(MedPage Today) -- NEW ORLEANS -- It may be reasonable for people with atrial fibrillation (Afib) to undergo percutaneous left atrial appendage (LAA) closure even if long-term anticoagulation is an alternative, according to the large CHAMPION...
·New York, United States
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Left atrial appendage closure ‘reasonable alternative’ to anticoagulation for some with AF
NEW ORLEANS — In patients with atrial fibrillation, those assigned left atrial appendage closure had similar ischemic outcomes and better bleeding outcomes compared with those assigned oral anticoagulation, researchers reported. The CHAMPION-AF trial, presented at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session and simultaneously published in The New England Journal of Medicine, randomly
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Leaning Left2Leaning Right0Center16Last UpdatedBias Distribution89% Center
Bias Distribution
- 89% of the sources are Center
89% Center
11%
C 89%
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