title: Assessment of left atrial volume: a focus on echocardiographic methods and clinical implications.
abstract: Left atrial enlargement is an important predictor of cardiovascular events such as atrial fibrillation, stroke, heart failure and mortality. A number of methods of left atrial size assessment by echocardiography have been reported, from the simple antero-posterior diameter in the parasternal long axis view to the more complex ellipsoid, area-length and Simpson's method of estimating left atrial volume. These different methods of left atrial size assessment, their clinical implications and some common pitfalls are discussed in this review.
authors.affiliation: City Hospital, University of Birmingham Centre for Cardiovascular Sciences, Birmingham, B18 7QH, UK.
authors.forename: Chee W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Khoo
authors.forename: Suresh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krishnamoorthy
authors.forename: Hoong Sern
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Gregory Y H
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Lip
mesh_terms: D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D009929:Organ Size; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
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