Authors

• Mislav Vrsalovic — University of Zagreb School of Medicine, University Hospital Centre “Sestre milosrdnice”, Zagreb, Croatia — ORCID: 0000-0002-8432-404X
• Scott L. Hummel — University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
• Hamid Ghanbari — University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
• Craig Alpert — University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
• Hakan Oral — University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
• Theodore J. Kolias — University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America

Keywords

left atrial strain, left ventricular strain, atrial fibrillation, catheter ablation

DOI

Full Text

## Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) frequently recurs after radiofrequency catheter ablation (CA). (1-4) This study investigated novel echocardiographic strain parameters as predictors of outcome in AF treated with CA. ## Methods 110 patients (pts, mean age 59, mean CHA2DS2-VASc = 1.37) with paroxysmal and 92 pts (mean age 62, mean CHA2DS2-VASc = 1.5) with persistent AF and preserved ejection fraction (EF) underwent CA and echocardiography ≤ 30 days prior to CA. Left atrial (LA-GS) and left ventricular (LV-GS) global longitudinal strains were measured with 2D speckle tracking. Patients were followed for AF recurrence after CA. ## Results During follow-up period (16±6 months for paroxysmal and 13±3 months for persistent AF), 44 (40%) and 47 (51%) pts had AF recurrence in each group. In both paroxysmal and persistent AF subgroup pts with AF recurrence had lower LA-GS (22% vs 31%; p38 mL/m2) (HR=2.28, 95% CI=1.26-4.13; p=0.006) both entered as binary variables were independent predictors of AF recurrence. When echocardiographic parameters were analyzed as continuous variables LA-GS (HR=0.82, 95% CI=0.75-0.88; p<0.001) was the only independent predictor of AF recurrence. ## Conclusion LA-GS using speckle tracking echocardiography is a strong and independent predictor of AF recurrence after first CA therapy in patients with paroxysmal and persistent AF and preserved EF.

Literature

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