Broward Health Medical Center is the first hospital in Broward County to offer patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF), an alternative to long-term blood thinners with the next-generation WATCHMAN FLXTM Left Atrial Appendage Closure (LAAC) implant. The WATCHMAN FLX, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, may reduce the risk of stroke in patients with NVAF who need an alternative to oral anticoagulation therapy. 

Built on the WATCHMAN technology, the WATCHMAN FLX device was designed to advance procedural performance and safety while expanding the treatable patient population. Implanting the LAAC device is a one-time, minimally invasive procedure that usually lasts about an hour. Following the procedure, patients typically need to stay in the hospital for 24 hours or less. It has been implanted in more than 100,000 patients worldwide.
 
“Broward Health is the only center in Broward County to offer the second-generation WATCHMAN device called WATCHMAN FLX, which we have had a clinical study for the last year,” said Ahmed Osman, M.D., medical director of the Cardiac Electrophysiology Lab at Broward Health Medical Center. “It has performed extremely well with an almost 99% success rate and given its update design adapts to all anatomies that could be encountered in this vary variable anatomical structure.”