The Role of Left Atrial Strain in Detecting Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction: Comparison between the 2009 and 2016 Recommendations

Niloufar Samiei; Fatemeh Abbasi; Maryam Shojaeifard; Mozhgan Parsaee; Saeid Hosseini; Yousef Rezaei; Nasim Naderi

doi:10.18502/jthc.v16i2.7386

Niloufar Samiei Heart Valve Disease Research Center, Rajaie Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Fatemeh Abbasi Department of Cardiology, Chamran Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Maryam Shojaeifard Echocardiography Research Center, Rajaie Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Mozhgan Parsaee Echocardiography Research Center, Rajaie Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Saeid Hosseini Heart Valve Disease Research Center, Rajaie Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Yousef Rezaei Heart Valve Disease Research Center, Rajaie Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Nasim Naderi Rajaie Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jthc.v16i2.7386

Keywords: Heart failure; Heart failure, diastolic; Heart Atria; Echocardiography

Abstract

Background: The frequency of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (DD) is overestimated by earlier recommendations. We compared the 2009 and 2016 guidelines regarding the detection of DD and explored the potential of adding left atrial (LA) strain to the current guideline.

Methods: Consecutive patients with heart failure were enrolled. All the patients were examined using 2-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) and tissue Doppler imaging. DD was evaluated in terms of E/eʹ, eʹ velocity, E, A, tricuspid regurgitation velocity, LA volume, and LA strain.

Results: This study evaluated 147 patients (101 males, 68.7%) at a mean age of 54.73±14.42 years. LA strain decreased with increasing grades of DD in both guidelines. The rate of reclassification between the 2 guidelines was 41%. The detection rate of normal diastolic function increased after the implementation of the 2016 guideline. LA strain discriminated individuals with normal diastolic function from those with DD more accurately than did LA volume index (area under the curve [AUC] =0.816 vs AUC=0.759, respectively). When LA strain <23% was incorporated into the 2016 guideline, 2 out of 4 patients with indeterminate diastolic function were reclassified as normal and 2 patients as grade I DD. The rate of reclassification was 4.1% after the addition of LA strain to the current guideline (κ=0.939, P<0.001).

Conclusion: This study showed that the current guideline detected lower rates of DD than did the earlier recommendations. Furthermore, the incorporation of LA strain into the current guideline resulted in lower rates of indeterminate diastolic function.