Watchman

[Afib20]

Anyone had the Watchman procedure? Your thoughts?

[BobD Volunteer]

Very limited availability here in UK under NHS. Maybe only a very few people who for any reason can't take anticoagulation.

[jeanjeannie50]

If you type Watchman into the Search Health Unlocked box at the top of this page it will throw up all the posts relating to it.

[The_Lord_is_with_Us]

I may be getting one in a couple of months ... depending on what an imaging analysis of recent ablation uncovers.

When it first came out ... they tested it on a narrow population of the sickest people. So results weren't very conclusive. However .... it was approved for wide distribution at clinics all across the United States, where it proved to be safe and quite effective.

They have now introduced an improved 2nd generation device.

My EP is one of the best in the world. He's installed every device ... and installed many Watchmans. It is his first choice in specific applications. Said it takes less than an hour to install. Several months after installation ... anticoagulation is unnecessary and can be stopped for life.

[seasider18]

I considered it when it first came out but delayed it as I was due to have a Pacemaker fitted.By then trials were starting on the alternative Amplatzer Amulet but I missed out on getting a place on the trials so I had it done privately in Brighton in April 2017. It was actually a cheaper procedure and it has a wider range of sizes. Some patients have woken up to find they have an Amplatzer as there wasn't a Watchman of the right size for them.

My consultant had done over a 100 procedures prior to mine.

It's a simple procedure that takes about an hour. If you have it in the morning you go home in the afternoon. I did not have mine until late afternoon so had an overnight stay. All right the next day and travelled home by train.

There are now quite a wide range of alternatives to the Watchman and Amplatzer.