title: Association of left atrial strain and strain rate assessed by speckle tracking echocardiography with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We hypothesized that contraction of the LA wall could be documented by speckle tracking and could be applied for assessment of LA function. This study tried to identify the association between LA longitudinal strain (LAS) and strain rate (LASR) measured by speckle tracking with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF).
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-two patients (61 +/- 17 years old, 23 men) with sinus rhythm at baseline referred for the evaluation of episodic palpitation were included. Standard four-chamber and two-chamber views were acquired and analyzed off-line. Peak LAS and LASR were carefully identified as the peak negative inflection of speckle tracking waves after P-wave gated by electrocardiography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ten patients (19%) had PAF. LAS, LASR, age, left ventricular end-diastolic dimension, left ventricular mass, LA volume, and mitral early filling-to-annulus early velocity ratio were different between patients with and without PAF. After multivariate analysis, LASR was significantly independently associated with PAF (OR 8.56, 95% CI 1.14-64.02, P = 0.036).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Speckle tracking echocardiography could be used in measurements of LAS and LASR. Decreased negative LASR was independently associated with PAF.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan. wctsai@ksmail.seed.net.tw
authors.forename: Wei-Chuan
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Cheng-Han
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Chih-Chan
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yen-Wen
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yao-Yi
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Wei-Ting
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ju-Yi
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Li-Jen
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013223:Statistics as Topic