Atrial Strain in Atrial Fibrillation Patients: A 2D Speckle Tracking Echocardiography Study

Objectives. In this study we tried to determine the values of the left atrial (LA) strain in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and set a parameter that could be a predictor of sinus rhythm (SR) maintenance. Study population. We included 60 patients with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≥50% - 33 (55%) of them were known to have in their personal history AF (newly diagnosed, paroxysmal and persistent) and they were examined at SR. The second group was represented by 27 (45%) patients that were examined in AF. Using two dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2D STE) it was quantified the strain of the 3 functions that characterize the physiology of the LA - reservoir, conduct and pump in the apical sections, mentioning that the pump was absent in patients examined in AF. Results. The average of the reservoir (R%) for all sections had a significantly higher value in patients with SR (20,2±6,225%) compared to patients examined in AF (6,505±2,66%): P Conclusions. In the present study, after analyzing all the parameters that were associated between the 2 groups, it was found that only R %, as the only variable, has the highest predictor power for maintenance of SR.