Atrial Appendage Occlusion and Arrhythmia Treatment

1 . An implantable cardiac orifice occlusion and arrhythmia treatment device, comprising:

an anchoring portion adapted to anchor the device in place adjacent a cardiac orifice;

a barrier element secured to the anchoring portion and adapted to cover the orifice when implanted, and adapted to prevent blood clots from passing through the barrier element; and

an arrhythmia treatment element secured to at least one of the anchoring portion and the barrier element, the treatment element adapted to treat a detected cardiac arrhythmia.

2 . The device of claim 1 further comprising an electrical activity monitoring element adapted to monitor electrical activity of the heart indicative of the arrhythmia.

3 . The device of claim 2 where the monitoring element is adapted to be disposed in contact with atrial tissue to monitor electrical activity of the heart.

4 . The device of claim 2 wherein the monitoring element is adapted to be disposed in contact with atrial appendage tissue to monitor electrical activity of the heart.

5 . The device of claim 2 wherein the monitoring element comprises an arrhythmia detection component adapted to detect when the arrhythmia is occurring.

6 . The device of claim 5 wherein the treatment element is adapted to treat the arrhythmia when the arrhythmia is detected by the detection component.

7 . The device of claim 5 wherein the monitoring element comprises an arrhythmia detection component adapted to detect when atrial fibrillation is occurring.

8 . The device of claim 2 wherein the anchoring portion, the barrier element, the monitoring element, and the treatment element are integrated into a singular implantable device.

9 . The device of claim 2 further comprising a detector adapted to detect when the arrhythmia is occurring, the detector is disposed external to the patient, wherein the monitor is adapted to transmit data indicative of the electrical activity of the heart to the detector.

10 . The device of claim 1 wherein the treatment element is adapted to pace cardiac tissue to treat the detected arrhythmia.

11 . The device of claim 1 wherein the treatment element is adapted to deliver a therapeutic agent to cardiac tissue to treat the detected arrhythmia.

12 . The device of claim 1 wherein the anchoring portion, the barrier element, and the treatment element are integrated into a singular implantable device.

13 . The device of claim 1 wherein the anchoring portion comprises a distal deformable anchoring portion and a proximal deformable anchoring portion, the distal anchoring portion adapted to be deployed in a left atrial appendage and anchored to left atrial appendage tissue, wherein the proximal anchoring portion is adapted to be deployed in a left atrium and anchored to left atrial tissue.

14 . A method of cardiac orifice blocking and arrhythmia treatment, comprising:

an integrated implantable device comprising an anchoring portion, a barrier element, a monitor, and a treatment element;

anchoring the anchoring portion against cardiac tissue near a cardiac orifice to block the flow of clots through the orifice with the barrier;

positioning the monitor to be in contact with cardiac tissue to monitor cardiac activity indicative of an arrhythmia; and

providing for the treatment of the arrhythmia with the treatment element.

15 . The method of claim 14 wherein the positioning step comprises positioning the monitoring component against atrial tissue.

16 . The method of claim 14 wherein the positioning step comprises positioning the monitoring component against atrial appendage tissue.

17 . The method of claim 14 wherein the anchoring step comprises allowing the anchoring portion to deform from a delivery configuration towards a deployed configuration in which it anchors against cardiac tissue.

18 . A cardiac orifice blocking device, comprising:

an anchoring portion comprising a proximal anchoring portion and a distal anchoring portion, the proximal anchoring portion adapted to be anchored against left atrial tissue, and the distal anchoring portion adapted to be anchored against left atrial appendage tissue;

a hub secured to the proximal and distal anchoring portions;

a barrier portion comprising a proximal barrier secured to the proximal anchoring portion, the proximal barrier adapted to prevent blood clots from passing therethrough, and a distal barrier portion secured to the distal anchoring portion.

19 . The device of claim 18 wherein the proximal anchoring portion has a greater radial dimension in a deployed configuration that a radial dimension of the distal anchoring portion in a deployed configuration.

20 . The device of claim 18 wherein the proximal anchoring portion comprises a plurality of deformable anchoring elements that extend substantially radially outward from the hub in their deployed configurations.

21 . The device of claim 18 wherein the proximal anchoring portion comprises a plurality of deformable anchoring elements, each of the plurality of anchoring elements having a loop configuration.

22 . The device of claim 21 , wherein the plurality of anchoring elements are in the same plane in a side view of the device.

23 . The device of claim 22 wherein the plane is substantially orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the hub.

24 . The device of claim 20 wherein the distal anchoring portion comprises a plurality of deformable anchoring elements that extend substantially radially outward from the hub in their deployed configurations.

25 . The device of claim 18 wherein the distal anchoring portion comprises a plurality of deformable anchoring elements, each of the plurality of anchoring elements having a loop configuration.

26 . The device of claim 25 wherein the plurality of anchoring elements are in the same plane in a side view of the device.

27 . The device of claim 26 wherein the plane is substantially orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the hub.

28 . The device of claim 18 wherein the proximal barrier is secured proximal to the proximal anchoring portion.

29 . The device of claim 18 wherein the distal barrier is secured proximal to the distal anchoring portion.

30 . The device of claim 18 wherein the proximal barrier comprises at least one pleat in the barrier material.

31 . The device of claim 18 wherein the proximal barrier has a substantially circular configuration.

32 . The device of claim 18 wherein the distal barrier has a substantially circular configuration.

33 . The device of claim 18 wherein the proximal anchoring portion comprises a plurality of deformable proximal anchoring elements that extend substantially radially outward from the hub in their deployed configurations, and the distal anchoring portion comprises a plurality of deformable distal anchoring elements that extend substantially radially outward from the hub in their deployed configurations, wherein the proximal anchoring elements extend further radially outward than the distal anchoring elements.

34 . The device of claim 18 wherein the distal anchoring portion and the proximal anchoring portion are formed integrally with the hub.

35 . The device of claim 18 wherein the proximal barrier has a greater radial dimension than the distal barrier when the distal and proximal anchoring portions are in their respective deployed configurations.