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In this video, Victor Nauffal, MD, discusses his abstract from Heart Rhythm 2024.

Hello everyone, I'm Dr Victor Nauffal. I'm a cardiac electrophysiology fellow at the Brigham and Women's Hospital. I'm happy to take this opportunity to share with you some of our results that I'm presenting during HRS in 2 posters. 

What can you tell us about your abstract at Heart Rhythm 2024? 

At the Brigham and Women's Hospital, almost a year ago, we introduced the use of vascular closure devices, post-collagen-based as well as suture-based vascular closure devices. We were interested in seeing if the use of closure devices is compared to manual compression, which was our standard technique previously, with any difference in length of hospital stays, same-day discharge, and vascular complications.

In summary, in a population of almost 1000 patients in each arm, we found that in the year where we introduced vascular closure devices compared to the 2 years prior, which was the reference group, there was no difference in the same-day discharge rate. However, the hospital stay following ablation was shorter. That led to earlier ambulation and earlier discharge within the same day for patients from the hospital following ablation.

More interestingly, we found that there was a significant reduction in vascular complication rates in patients who underwent vascular closure devices as compared to those who had just manual compression. Finally, when we looked at the type of closure device, we did not find any difference looking at collagen plug-based vascular closure devices versus suture-based devices. They both had similar outcomes and were compared favorably compared to manual compression.

What are the take-home messages you would like viewers to leave with?

The take-home points are that vascular closure devices, regardless of type, are safe, lead to reduction in vascular complication rates, and shorter hospital stay following ablation. However, they don't seem to affect the rate of same-day discharge.

The transcripts have been edited for clarity and length.