Assessment of the left atrial longitudinal myocardial function by Assessment of the left atrial longitudinal myocardial function by the strain and strain rate echocardiography in patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis*

To evaluate the regional left atrial (LA) myocardial functions and time to peak deformations by the longitudinal strain (S) and strain rate (Sr) echocardiography in isolated mitral stenosis (MS) patients for 3 LA periods (contractile, reservoir, and conduit periods). Materials and methods: Included in the study were 30 MS patients and 30 healthy controls. Longitudinal peak S and Sr indices, time to peak S and time to peak Sr, and systolic and diastolic velocities were measured from the color Doppler myocardial imaging data, for each LA period. Results: For all 3 periods, all of the segment S values and most of the segment Sr values were significantly lower in the patients than in the controls (P < 0.0001 and P < 0.05, respectively). There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of velocities. Time to peak S in the contractile and conduit periods was significantly higher in the patients than in the controls, in most of the segments (P < 0.05). Time to peak Sr was significantly higher in the patients than in the controls, in all of the periods in all of the segments (P < 0.05) except for mid-septal segments. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that LA longitudinal myocardial functions were impaired in MS patients with S/Sr echocardiography. Our study is the first to demonstrate prolonged time to peak S/Sr of the LA in rheumatic MS. This condition might be an additional factor in the deterioration of regional LA myocardial function in MS patients.