Abstract 12869: Left Atrial Contractile Strain Predicts Recurrence of Atrial Tachyarrhythmia After Catheter Ablation

Abstract

Background: Despite improvement in treatment strategies of atrial fibrillation (AF), a considerable number of patients still experience recurrence of atrial tachyarrhythmia (ATA) following catheter ablation (CA). We hypothesized that baseline myocardial impairment of the left atrium (LA) is useful in identifying patients at high risk of ATA recurrence. Methods: This retrospective study included 921 patients with AF who underwent CA. Echocardiography including two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2DSTE) was performed in all patients prior to CA. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between ATA recurrence and peak atrial longitudinal strain (PALS), peak atrial contraction strain (PACS), and left atrial conduit strain (LACS). Results: During one-year follow-up, 375 (41%) experienced ATA recurrence. The median age of the included study population was 63.5 years (IQR: 55.6, 69.6) and 665 (72%) were male. Patients with recurrence had lower PALS (19.6% vs. 22.0%, p=0.004) and PACS (10.7% vs. 12.4%, p < 0.001). No difference in LACS was observed. After adjusting for potential clinical and echocardiographic confounders PALS (OR = 1.04, CI95% [1.01; 1.06], p = 0.011, per 1% decrease) and PACS (OR = 1.06, CI95% [1.02; 1.11], p = 0.007, per 1% decrease) remained independent predictors of recurrence. However, in patients with a normal-sized LA (LA volume index < 34 mL/m 2 ), only PACS remained an independent predictor of recurrence (OR = 1.06, CI95% [1.01; 1.12], p = 0.013, per 1% decrease). Figure 1 displays the increasing risk of recurrence with decreasing PALS, PACS, and LACS. Conclusion: In patients undergoing CA for AF, LA deformation analysis by 2DSTE could be of use in risk stratification in clinical practice regarding ATA recurrence, even in patients with a normal-sized LA.