If you have AFib (an irregular heartbeat) and you can’t use long-term blood thinners to lower your risk for stroke, Baystate Health offers a solution: WATCHMAN.
What is the WATCHMAN Procedure?
WATCHMAN is a one-time procedure that lowers your lifetime risk for stroke if you have AFib (not caused by a heart valve problem) and you have also experienced serious bleeding while on blood thinners.
With a AFIB or irregular heartbeat , blood doesn’t flow as well as it should through your heart. As a result, blood may collect in your heart and form a clot. A blood clot can then travel to your brain and cause a stroke .
Medicines like warfarin (commonly known as Coumadin) can help prevent clots and stroke, but long-term blood thinners aren’t right for everybody.
Baystate Medical Center now offers this minimally invasive surgery where a left atrial appendage closure device is implanted into your heart. The WATCHMAN device closes off your LAA to keep blood clots from escaping—which reduces your risk for stroke permanently.
WATCHMAN also reduces the bleeding risk, frequent blood tests and dietary restrictions that come with warfarin.
If you have questions about the WATCHMAN procedure, call 413-794-4011 .
VIDEO
THE ONLY HOSPITAL IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS TO PERFORM THE WATCHMAN PROCEDURE
More than 80,000 WATCHMAN procedures have been performed worldwide. And 10 years of clinical studies have shown that the procedure is safe and effective.
Learn More About WATCHMAN: