Left atrial measurements and adverse events in acute heart failure due to acute coronary syndrome

Background: echocardiography is the standard investigation to assess patients with heart failure due to acute coronary syndromes. The scientific literature makes dereference to the prognostic value of left atrial remodeling in this context.Objective: to assess the utility of left atrial measures and the association with adverse events in patients with acute heart failure due to acute coronary syndrome treated at the “Dr. Ernesto Guevara de la Serna” General Teaching Hospital of Las Tunas, Cuba, from January 2017 to March 2018.Methods: an observational, analytical case-control study was carried out, 1:5, with patients diagnosed with acute heart failure and acute coronary syndrome, treated at the aforementioned institution and during the period herein declared. By deliberate sampling, 66 patients, divided into 11 cases and 55 controls, were selected. Epidemiological and echocardiographic variables were assessed. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis were used.Results: senile patients represented 78,8 %, the male sex predominated. High blood pressure was present in 82,7 %. Mortality was above the results of international studies. The most frequent adverse events were malignant ventricular arrhythmias. High atrial volumes presented good associations with the onset of adverse events. The area of the left atrial enlargement presented poor statistical significance.Conclusions: in the sample of patients with acute heart failure due to acute coronary syndrome, the study sowed that the increased left atrial volume may be an echocardiographic predictor of risk of adverse events.