title: Left atrium by echocardiography in clinical practice: from conventional methods to new echocardiographic techniques.
abstract: Although often referred to as "the forgotten chamber", compared with left ventricle (LV), especially in the past years, the left atrium (LA) plays a critical role in the clinical expression and prognosis of patients with heart and cerebrovascular disease, as demonstrated by several studies. Echocardiographers initially focused on early detection of atrial geometrical abnormalities through monodimensional atrial diameter quantification and then bidimensional (2D) areas and volume estimation. Now, together with conventional echocardiographic parameters, new echocardiographic techniques, such as strain Doppler, 2D speckle tracking and three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography, allow assessing early LA dysfunction and they all play a fundamental role to detect early functional remodelling before anatomical alterations occur. LA dysfunction and its important prognostic implications may be detected sooner by LA strain than by volumetric measurements.
authors.affiliation: Noninvasive Cardiology Unit, Department of Cardiology, Monaldi Hospital, A.O.R.N. dei Colli, Via Leonardo Bianchi, 80131 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0007-3122
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ancona
authors.affiliation: Noninvasive Cardiology Unit, Department of Cardiology, Monaldi Hospital, A.O.R.N. dei Colli, Via Leonardo Bianchi, 80131 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9542-7709
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Comenale Pinto
authors.affiliation: Noninvasive Cardiology Unit, Department of Cardiology, Monaldi Hospital, A.O.R.N. dei Colli, Via Leonardo Bianchi, 80131 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Pio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Caso
authors.affiliation: Monaldi Hospital, A.O.R.N. dei Colli, Via Leonardo Bianchi, 80131 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonello
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: D'Andrea
authors.affiliation: Monaldi Hospital, A.O.R.N. dei Colli, Via Leonardo Bianchi, 80131 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Salvo
authors.affiliation: Noninvasive Cardiology Unit, Department of Cardiology, Monaldi Hospital, A.O.R.N. dei Colli, Via Leonardo Bianchi, 80131 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Fortunato
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Arenga
authors.affiliation: Noninvasive Cardiology Unit, Department of Cardiology, Monaldi Hospital, A.O.R.N. dei Colli, Via Leonardo Bianchi, 80131 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Gabriella
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Coppola
authors.affiliation: Monaldi Hospital, A.O.R.N. dei Colli, Via Leonardo Bianchi, 80131 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sellitto
authors.affiliation: Monaldi Hospital, A.O.R.N. dei Colli, Via Leonardo Bianchi, 80131 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Macrino
authors.affiliation: Monaldi Hospital, A.O.R.N. dei Colli, Via Leonardo Bianchi, 80131 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Calabrò
mesh_terms: D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D005791:Patient Care / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*