Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Mar;15(3):381-391.
doi: 10.1016/j.jcmg.2021.09.009. Epub 2021 Oct 13.

Left Atrial Strain Determinants During the Cardiac Phases

Georgiana-Grațiela Mălăescu  1 , Oana Mirea  1 , Răzvan Capotă  1 , Aniela Monica Petrescu  1 , Jürgen Duchenne  1 , Jens-Uwe Voigt  2
Affiliations
Free article

Left Atrial Strain Determinants During the Cardiac Phases

Georgiana-Grațiela Mălăescu et al. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2022 Mar.
Free article

Abstract

Objectives: The present study investigated the determinants of left atrial (LA) strain in all phases of the cardiac cycle.

Background: LA strain by speckle-tracking echocardiography allows the assessment of LA function in each phase of the cardiac cycle. However, its determinants and its relation with left ventricular (LV) function have not yet been fully described.

Methods: The authors performed a retrospective analysis in 127 patients with different cardiovascular pathologies. Using 2-dimensional speckle tracking in 4- and 2-chamber apical views we derived both LA and LV strain curves. Strain-strain loops were reconstructed using LV strain and the corresponding, synchronized LA strain data. Linear regressions were calculated for the entire strain-strain loop as well as for the 3 phases of the cardiac cycle (systole, and early and late diastole). The association between LA strain parameters and LV systolic and diastolic parameters was studied. The prediction of cardiovascular events was evaluated for both measured and predicted LA strain and other parameters.

Results: LA and LV strain curves presented excellent correlations with an R2 > 0.90 for the cardiac cycle, and R2 > 0.97 for its phases. Moreover, the ratios of LV/LA maximal volumes and the slopes of the LA-LV strain-strain loops of the individual patients correlated well (R2 = 0.75). In each phase of the cardiac cycle, LA strain parameters correlated well with the corresponding LV strain and the LV-LA volume ratio (R2 > 0.78). No significant difference in predictive ability of cardiovascular events or atrial fibrillation between the measured and predicted LA strain was observed (P > 0.05 for both).

Conclusions: In the absence of abnormal LA/LV volume exchange, LA strain is, to a large extent, determined by LV strain and further modulated by the ratio of LV and LA volumes. Nonetheless, measuring LA strain is of high clinical interest because it integrates several parameters into a single, robust, and reproducible measurement.

Keywords: left atrial strain; left ventricular strain; speckle-tracking echocardiography.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Funding Support and Author Disclosures Dr Petrescu was supported by a research grant from the German Society of Cardiology (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kardiologie). Dr Duchenne is supported by a project grant from the Research Foundation Flanders (Fonds Wetenschappalijk Onderzoek Flanderen [FWO]). Prof Dr Voigt holds a personal research mandate of the FWO. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.

Comment in

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources