Patent ID: 7931578

Claim:
A method for compressing a portion of a patient's heart, the method comprising: placing a pledget body on an exterior of a first wall of an appendage of the patient's heart, where the appendage comprises at least a second tissue wall, where the first tissue wall and second tissue wall define a cavity where the pledget body comprises a tissue contacting planar surface allowing the pledget body to distribute stress applied to the tissue wall over the entire tissue contacting planar surface of the pledget body; moving the first and second tissue walls together; passing a far end of a first suture through the pledget body and the first and second tissue walls; and securing a near end of the first suture such that the end is prevented from passing through the tissue walls, where the tissue contacting planar surface of the pledget body reduces the stress applied by the near end of the first suture on the exterior of the first tissue wall when the first suture is in a state of tension.