Skip Navigation



European Heart Journal Advance Access published online on April 24, 2008
European Heart Journal, doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehn168
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Schneider, C.
Right arrow Articles by Kuck, K.-H.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Schneider, C.
Right arrow Articles by Kuck, K.-H.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2008. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Strain rate imaging for functional quantification of the left atrium: atrial deformation predicts the maintenance of sinus rhythm after catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation

Carsten Schneider*, Rainer Malisius, Korff Krause, Friedrun Lampe, Edda Bahlmann, Sigrid Boczor, Matthias Antz, Sabine Ernst and Karl-Heinz Kuck

Department of Cardiology, Asklepios Hospital St Georg, Lohmühlenstraße 5, 20099 Hamburg, Germany

Received 24 August 2007; revised 14 March 2008; accepted 7 April 2008.

* Corresponding author. Tel: +49 (0) 401818852305, Fax: +49 (0) 401818854444, Email: dr_c_schneider{at}hotmail.com

Aims: The aim of the study was to investigate the atrial myocardial deformation properties using ultrasound strain rate (SR) imaging in patients after catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) and to compare its prognostic value in maintaining sinus rhythm.

Methods and results: A total of 118 patients with AF (74 paroxysmal AF, 44 persistent AF) underwent transthoracic echocardiography with Doppler-derived SR examinations before and after ablation as well as during 3 months of follow-up (FU). Peak SR and strain (S) were measured at each left atrium (LA) segment (septal, lateral, anterior, inferior) during systole (LAs) and at early (LAe) and late diastole (LAa). Clinical and echocardiographic parameters of patients with maintained sinus rhythm during FU were compared with those with recurrent AF and controls (n = 25 patients). Of 118 patients 82 (69%) showed stable sinus rhythm during FU. Atrial myocardial properties after catheter ablation differed significantly in patients with paroxysmal AF (SR-LAs 2.5 s–1, S-LAs 30%, SR-LAa –2.2 s–1) from patients with persistent AF (SR-LAs 2.3 s–1, S-LAs 25%, SR-LAa –1.9 s–1) and controls (SR-LAs 4.1 s–1, S-LAs 88%, SR-LAa –2.9 s–1) (P = 0.011). Best individual predictors of sinus rhythm maintenance were cut-off values of >2.25 s–1 for septal and inferior SR-LAs and of >19.5% for inferior S-LAs (P < 0.001). LA deformation properties increased in patients with maintained sinus rhythm during FU in contrast to patients with recurrent AF (P = 0.001).

Conclusion: SR imaging enables the quantitative assessment of the LA function and can be considered as a potential marker of atrial reverse remodelling. Patients with higher atrial S and SR after catheter ablation appear to have a greater likelihood of maintenance of sinus rhythm. This may have further implications for the anticoagulation regime and the risk of cardioembolic complications.

Key Words: Strain rate imaging • Left atrial function • Atrial fibrillation • Catheter ablation


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.