Validation of a rapid semi-automated method to assess left atrial longitudinal phasic strains on cine cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

BackgroundAbnormal left atrial (LA) function is a marker of cardiac dysfunction and adverse cardiovascular outcome, but is difficult to assess, and hence not, routinely quantified. We aimed to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of a fast method to measure long-axis LA strain and strain rate (SR) with standard cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) compared to conventional feature tracking (FT) derived longitudinal strain.MethodsWe studied 50 normal controls, 30 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and 100 heart failure (HF) patients, including 40 with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), 30 mid-range ejection fraction (HFmrEF) and 30 preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). LA longitudinal strain and SR parameters were derived by tracking the distance between the left atrioventricular junction and a user-defined point at the mid posterior LA wall on standard cine CMR two- and four-chamber views. LA performance was analyzed at three distinct cardiac phases: reservoir function (reservoir strain εs and strain rate SRs), conduit function (conduit strain εe and strain rate SRe) and booster pump function (booster strain εa and strain rate SRa).ResultsThere was good agreement between LA longitudinal strain and SR assessed using the fast and conventional FT-CMR approaches (r = 0.89 to 0.99, p < 0.001). The fast strain and SRs showed a better intra- and inter-observer reproducibility and a 55% reduction in evaluation time (85 ± 10 vs. 190 ± 12 s, p < 0.001) compared to FT-CMR. Fast LA measurements in normal controls were 35.3 ± 5.2% for εs, 18.1 ± 4.3% for εe, 17.2 ± 3.5% for εa, and 1.8 ± 0.4, − 2.0 ± 0.5, − 2.3 ± 0.6 s− 1 for the respective phasic SRs. Significantly reduced LA strains and SRs were observed in all patient groups compared to normal controls. Patients with HFpEF and HFmrEF had significantly smaller εs, SRs, εe and SRe than hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and HFmrEF had significantly impaired LA reservoir and booster function compared to HFpEF. The fast LA strains and SRs were similar to FT-CMR for discriminating patients from controls (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.79 to 0.96 vs. 0.76 to 0.93, p = NS).ConclusionsNovel quantitative LA strain and SR derived from conventional cine CMR images are fast assessable parameters for LA phasic function analysis.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12968-018-0496-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Left atrial stiffness in women with ischemia and no obstructive coronary artery disease: Novel insight from left atrial feature tracking

“…Consistent with recent reports, we observed a marked reduction in left atrial reservoir strain in HFpEF compared to reference controls. 18,20,21,34 In contrast to our original hypothesis;…”

Clinical implication of disturbed left atrial phasic functions in the heterogeneous population associated with hypertension or atrial fibrillation

“…Importance of LA phasic function evaluation is increasingly recognized for its incremental value in terms of prognosis and risk stratification in various disease states [1, 23–28]. We studied the clinical relevance and prognostic utility of disturbed LA phasic function in heterogeneous population associated with hypertension or AF.…”

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