Left atrial appendage closure with the AnchorMan or Watchman devices: 12-month results of the SAFE-PROTECT randomised trial.
B, W., H, C., Y, W., M, C., C, W., X, J., S, T., Z, Z., J, Z., & F, W. (2026). Left atrial appendage closure with the AnchorMan or Watchman devices: 12-month results of the SAFE-PROTECT randomised trial.. EuroIntervention : journal of EuroPCR in collaboration with the Working Group on Interventional Card. https://doi.org/10.4244/EIJ-D-25-01168
B W, H C, Y W, M C, C W, X J, et al. Left atrial appendage closure with the AnchorMan or Watchman devices: 12-month results of the SAFE-PROTECT randomised trial.. EuroIntervention : journal of EuroPCR in collaboration with the Working Group on Interventional Card. 2026; doi: 10.4244/EIJ-D-25-01168
B W, H C, Y W, et al. Left atrial appendage closure with the AnchorMan or Watchman devices: 12-month results of the SAFE-PROTECT randomised trial.[J]. EuroIntervention : journal of EuroPCR in collaboration with the Working Group on Interventional Card. 2026. DOI: 10.4244/EIJ-D-25-01168.
@article{b2026,
author = {Wang B and Cai H and Wu Y and Chen M and Wang C and Jiang X and Tao S and Zhong Z and Zeng J and Wang F},
title = {Left atrial appendage closure with the AnchorMan or Watchman devices: 12-month results of the SAFE-PROTECT randomised trial.},
journal = {EuroIntervention : journal of EuroPCR in collaboration with the Working Group on Interventional Card},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.4244/EIJ-D-25-01168},
note = {PMID: 42405627},
}
TY - JOUR AU - Wang B AU - Cai H AU - Wu Y AU - Chen M AU - Wang C AU - Jiang X AU - Tao S AU - Zhong Z AU - Zeng J AU - Wang F TI - Left atrial appendage closure with the AnchorMan or Watchman devices: 12-month results of the SAFE-PROTECT randomised trial. T2 - EuroIntervention : journal of EuroPCR in collaboration with the Working Group on Interventional Card PY - 2026 DO - 10.4244/EIJ-D-25-01168 AN - PMID:42405627 ER -
BACKGROUND: Percutaneous closure of the left atrial appendage (LAA) is an alternative to chronic oral anticoagulation to reduce stroke risk in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF). AIMS: The SAFE-PROTECT trial was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the AnchorMan, a novel LAA closure device, compared with the Watchman 2.5 device for patients with AF at high risk of ischaemic stroke. METHODS: SAFE-PROTECT was a multicentre, open-label, non-inferiority trial of patients with non-valvular AF at high risk of ischaemic stroke, randomised 1:1 to LAA closure with the AnchorMan or the Watchman device. The 12-month primary endpoint was clinical success (freedom from ischaemic/haemorrhagic stroke, systemic embolism, cardiovascular or unexplained death); the secondary efficacy endpoint was echocardiography-defined LAA occlusion (peridevice leak <5 mm) at 12 months. RESULTS: A total of 216 patients were randomised to either an AnchorMan (n=108) or to a Watchman (n=108) device. The AnchorMan was non-inferior to Watchman for the primary endpoint (98.1% vs 98.1%;p>0.99; difference -0.3; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -3.9 to 3.5; pnon-inferiority=0.0004) and the powered secondary efficacy endpoint of LAA closure (100% vs 100%; difference 0%; 95% CI: -3.60 to 3.50; pnon-inferiority=not applicable). The rates of all-cause death, stroke, major bleeding, and device-related complications were low and similar between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with non-valvular AF at high risk of ischaemic stroke, the AnchorMan device met its prespecified non-inferiority primary clinical success and secondary LAA occlusion endpoints compared with the Watchman 2.5 device. CLINICALTRIALS: gov: NCT04479722.