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Estimating Bilateral Atrial Function by Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Feature Tracking in Patients with Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation
Published on: July 20, 2022
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Understanding atrial failure: from diagnosis to clinical implications
Bryce Alexander1, Eugene Braunwald2,3, Antoni Bayés-de-Luna4
1Division of Cardiology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Nature Reviews. Cardiology
|February 27, 2026
Summary
Atrial failure, a clinical syndrome from atrial cardiomyopathy, impairs heart function, causing symptoms and poor outcomes. Understanding its mechanisms and treatments is crucial for cardiovascular health.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Heart Failure Research
- Atrial Electrophysiology
Background:
- Atrial cardiomyopathy involves structural, functional, or electrical abnormalities of the atria.
- Atrial failure is the clinical manifestation of atrial cardiomyopathy, leading to symptoms or adverse outcomes.
- It can be primary (intrinsic atrial disease) or secondary (due to ventricular, valvular, or systemic issues).
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the pathophysiology and clinical phenotypes of atrial failure.
- To highlight the role of multimodality imaging in diagnosing atrial cardiomyopathy and failure.
- To summarize emerging therapies and future clinical integration strategies.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of pathophysiological mechanisms.
- Analysis of clinical phenotypes associated with atrial failure.
- Evaluation of diagnostic imaging modalities.
- Synthesis of current and emerging therapeutic strategies.
Main Results:
- Atrial failure is a key determinant of prognosis in cardiovascular conditions.
- It can drive heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and promote atrial arrhythmias.
- It may increase thromboembolic risk independently of atrial fibrillation.
Conclusions:
- Atrial failure is an emerging clinical syndrome with significant implications for cardiovascular disease.
- Multimodality imaging is vital for diagnosis and phenotyping.
- Therapeutic strategies targeting atrial remodeling are under development for clinical integration.
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