Robotic-assisted left atrial ligation for stroke reduction in chronic atrial fibrillation: a case report

Patients with atrial fibrillation are at significant risk for sustaining a thromboembolic stroke. More than 90% of thromboemboli form in the left atrial appendage. Ligation of the left atrial appendage to reduce the risk of stroke is often performed in connection with other cardiac surgical procedures. As a stand-alone procedure, however, left atrial ligation has generally been deemed too invasive and has gained little support as an alternative therapeutic option. We report a case of port-access robotic-assisted left atrial ligation as a stand-alone procedure in a patient with chronic atrial fibrillation in whom anticoagulation was a contraindication. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of stand-alone robotic-assisted left atrial ligation in the literature.