Figure 3. Contrast defect (CD) after left atrial appendage (LAA) closure.
The patients had undergone clipping of LAA during coronary artery bypass graft surgery. There remained an LAA portion between the site of the LAA clipping and entrance of the LAA after the surgery. CDs were observed with contrast computed tomography (CT) in both the early (A) and late phases (B) at the left atrial side of the LAA closure. The anticoagulant was switched from rivaroxaban to dabigatran, and 38 days later, the subsequent late-phase prone-position contrast CT (late-pCT) showed a much larger CD in the same area as the LAA (C). Then, we changed the agent to warfarin, and finally, the CD vanished on late-pCT 58days after second CT scanning (D). Arrows show CDs.