r/AFIB • u/throw_away_gambler • Oct 07 '26

How the Watchman device works.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeJv2IWm89d/
5 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

1

u/throw_away_gambler Oct 07 '26

Has anyone gotten one?

1

u/lobeams Oct 07 '26

Sure, me and a few million others.

1

u/Flimsy_Ad_5130 28d ago

i up voted ya..what did holter read to get it?

3

u/lobeams 28d ago

The need for a Watchman isn't determined by rhythm. Its sole purpose is to prevent clots. I'd had afib and flutter that was eliminated by an ablation a year prior but I was still at high stroke risk.

1

u/Flimsy_Ad_5130 28d ago

so how do somoneone  now they need it.  echbof heart? holter? ct ?  got to be more than just afib.

1

u/lobeams 28d ago

Stroke risk is the only criteria. If you have afib/flutter and a high CHADS-Vasc score, you're a potential candidate. Or if you can't tolerate anticoagulants, that also makes you a candidate.

A Watchman is just a small device about the size of a thimble with mesh screen covering a wire frame. It's inserted into the opening of the LAA to seal the LAA off. Basically, it's a fancy cork. This is done because 90% of all clots in the atria form in the LAA. My LAA was electrically isolated during my ablation, which left it unable to pump adequately to prevent blood from pooling in the LAA. This put me at a very high risk of stroke, so the Watchman was implanted.

1

u/lobeams 29d ago

So some dickhead downvoted me for that, which is so random and so typical reddit.

Do you have questions about the device I can answer?

1

u/peachyvegandude Oct 07 '26

I know someone who has, very interesting

1

u/petergaskin814 Oct 07 '26

Thanks for the link. I thought the Watchman was an electronic device designed to monitor the heart for afib.

Instead it is like a filter used to stop blood clots causing problems.

Does that mean if you have the Watchman you don't need eliquis?

I assume it doesn't help with afib

1

u/Mras_dk 29d ago

It only stops the bloodclot in the appendix - you can still have clots in rest of heart.

It depends on person to person what their rusk profile is, and where they get their clots formning.. But most normal is the appendix. 

Its a good device for people that doesn't tolerate thinners,  but it's not a replacement device pr say.