“…Conditions that affect left ventricular diastolic function influence left atrial functional status as well. During fetal life, the developing ventricle walls are less compliant compared with neonates, children and adults, directly impacting ventricular filling, which becomes highly dependent on left atrial contraction (Jouannic et al , ; Kiserud, ). This can be demonstrated by the analysis of mitral and tricuspid valve flows, which shows an E/A ratio < 1 throughout gestation, with increasing values towards term (Harada et al , ).…”