Atrial Fibrillation — Post-approval Study of Percutaneous Left Atrial Appendage Closure ( FLAAC-2 )
Citation(s)
Belgaid DR, Khan Z, Zaidi M, Hobbs A Prospective randomized evaluation of the watchman left atrial appendage closure device in patients with atrial fibrillation versus long-term warfarin therapy: The PREVAIL trial. Int J Cardiol. 2016 Sep 15;219:177-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2016.06.041. Epub 2016 Jun 15. Review.
Blackshear JL, Odell JA Appendage obliteration to reduce stroke in cardiac surgical patients with atrial fibrillation. Ann Thorac Surg. 1996 Feb;61(2):755-9. Review.
Friberg L, Rosenqvist M, Lip GY Evaluation of risk stratification schemes for ischaemic stroke and bleeding in 182 678 patients with atrial fibrillation: the Swedish Atrial Fibrillation cohort study. Eur Heart J. 2012 Jun;33(12):1500-10. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehr488. Epub 2012 Jan 13.
Knecht S, Wilton SB, Haïssaguerre M The 2010 update of the ESC guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation. Circ J. 2010 Nov;74(12):2534-7. Epub 2010 Nov 2. Review.
Reddy VY, Holmes D, Doshi SK, Neuzil P, Kar S Safety of percutaneous left atrial appendage closure: results from the Watchman Left Atrial Appendage System for Embolic Protection in Patients with AF (PROTECT AF) clinical trial and the Continued Access Registry. Circulation. 2011 Feb 1;123(4):417-24. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.110.976449. Epub 2011 Jan 17.
Reddy VY, Möbius-Winkler S, Miller MA, Neuzil P, Schuler G, Wiebe J, Sick P, Sievert H Left atrial appendage closure with the Watchman device in patients with a contraindication for oral anticoagulation: the ASAP study (ASA Plavix Feasibility Study With Watchman Left Atrial Appendage Closure Technology). J Am Coll Cardiol. 2013 Jun 25;61(25):2551-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2013.03.035. Epub 2013 Apr 10.
Interventional studies are often prospective and are specifically tailored to evaluate direct impacts of treatment or preventive measures on disease.
Observational studies are often retrospective and are used to assess potential causation in exposure-outcome relationships and therefore influence preventive methods.
Expanded access is a means by which manufacturers make investigational new drugs available, under certain circumstances, to treat a patient(s) with a serious disease or condition who cannot participate in a controlled clinical trial.
Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.
Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.