Left Atrium by Echocardiography in Clinical Practice: From Conventional Methods to New Echocardiographic Techniques. (9th June 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ancona, Roberta; Comenale Pinto, Salvatore; Caso, Pio; D'Andrea, Antonello; Di Salvo, Giovanni; Arenga, Fortunato; Coppola, Maria Gabriella; Sellitto, Vincenzo; Macrino, Maria; Calabrò, Raffaele
• Other Names: Cameli Matteo Academic Editor.
• Is Part Of: TheScientificWorldjournal. Volume 2014(2014)
• Publication Date: 2014-06-09
• Subjects: Science -- Periodicals; Technology -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Periodicals; 505
• DOI: 10.1155/2014/451042
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2356-6140

Abstract

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.