Left Atrial Strain Predicts Cardiovascular and All-Cause Mortality

Left atrial strain can usefully reflect left atrial function. The follow-up periods in previous studies assessing left atrial strain as a survival predictor have been relatively short, and few studies have examined the ability of left atrial strain to predict mortality in patients with borderline diastolic function. This study sought to investigate the survival predictive value of left atrial strain with a longer follow-up duration. In addition, we also evaluated the survival predictive value of left atrial strain in patients with borderline diastolic function.

In total, 652 participants who received routine echocardiography underwent 2-D speckle tracking echocardiography to evaluate left atrial reservoir function by peak atrial longitudinal strain. The study endpoints were all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.

The mean left atrial strain was 27.6%, and the median follow-up duration was 92 months. During follow-up, 72 patients died of cardiovascular causes and 181 died of all causes. Univariable Cox regression analysis revealed that lower left atrial strain significantly predicted an increase in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. After adjusting for common clinical and echocardiographic parameters, lower left atrial strain was still associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.942, p = 0.011] and cardiovascular mortality (HR = 0.915, p = 0.018) in multivariable Cox-regression analysis. In addition, 293 patients had borderline left ventricular diastolic function. Multivariable analysis still revealed that left atrial strain could predict cardiovascular mortality in this population.

Our data showed that left atrial strain could predict all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, even after adjusting for general clinical and echocardiographic parameters.