Quantitative validation of left atrial structure and function by two-dimensional and three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography: A comparative study with three-dimensional computed tomography

Abstract

3D-STE allows more accurate measurement of LA volume and function than 2D-STE and has high reproducibility.

Correlations between three-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography-derived left atrial functional parameters and aortic stiffness in healthy subjects – Results from the MAGYAR-Healthy Study

“…Nemes A et al 204 Limitation section The following important limitations should be mentioned when interpreting results: [1] Due to lower temporal and spatial image resolutions the 3DSTE-derived image quality is mostly worse than that of 2D echocardiography. [2] Despite 3DSTE seems to be an applicable technique for non-invasive estimation of LA volumes and functional properties, more comparative and validation studies with other methodologies are warranted (11,15,18). [3] At this moment 3DSTE-derived normal strain reference values has not been described and the results of the present study were somewhat different as compared to that of previous findings.…”

“…3): [1] Reservoir function (LA inflow during LA systole), [2] Conduit function (LA passive emptying during LV relaxation and diastasis, when blood transiting from the pulmonary veins to the LV during early diastole), [3] Active contraction or booster pump function (LA active emptying, when LA works like an active contractile chamber that augments LV filling in late diastole). There are several ways for functional assessment of LA including calculation of volumebased and strain parameters by 3DSTE as demonstrated before (4,7,8,11,13,15,18). With these parameters detailed characterization of all three LA functions possible: [1] Reservoir function by total atrial SV and total atrial EF together with global and mean segmental peak strain parameters, [2] Conduit function by passive atrial SV and passive atrial EF, and [3] Active contraction (booster pump) by active atrial SV and active atrial EF together with global and mean segmental pre-atrial contraction strain parameters.…”

“…The user could manually adjust endocardial and epicardial LA surface when it was necessary. The following volumes have been calculated (7,8,11,15,18):…”

“…Arterial stiffness was found to be associated with LA size in different patient populations (12). Three-dimensional (3D) speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) seems to be an optimal choice for non-invasive quantification of LV and LA volumes and deformation parameters by 3D volumetric and strain analysis (1,4,7,8,11,13,15,(17)(18)(19)22). The aim of the present study was to determine whether correlations exist between 3DSTE-derived LA volume-based and strain parameters characterizing all phasic functions of the LA and echocardiographic aortic elastic properties in healthy subjects.…”

Left Atrial Function After Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation – Can Pre-Ablation Function Predict Contractile Improvement During Follow-up? –

“…Furthermore, even if several studies have used 3-D echocardiography and strain/strain rate techniques, at the moment of enrollment they were not available in the present laboratory. 33 Moreover, despite its well known advantages, 2-D echocardiography has some limitations in assessing LA volume, mainly…”