The EARLY ACS trial, presented at the American College of Cardiology 2009 Scientific Sessions, addressed the long-debated question of whether it was better to give GP IIb/IIIa blockers upstream to all high-risk ACS patients or to use them selectively in the cath lab.Incremental new data from the PROTECT-AF study have shown continued efficacy and safety with the Watchman device used to close the left atrial appendage (LAA) as a stroke-prevention strategy in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation.

Drs Melissa Walton-Shirley, Ann Curtis, and Cindy Grines get together in the first all-female panel on theheart.org for an in-depth discussion about the study, including who in the cardiology world will be deploying the device, how it might stand up to new antithrombins, and what effect it will have on atrial-fibrillation ablation rates.

Join Drs Harlan Krumholz, Sanjay Kaul, and Robert Harrington as they review the results of the trial and go into detail about the contentious and sometimes confusing issues surrounding the use of GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors.