Abstract
The prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) and arterial stiffness (AS) increases with age. To evaluate if AS is correlated to longitudinal strain (LS), a marker of left ventricular (LV) function, in elderly AF patients with preserved ejection fraction (EF) undergoing external cardioversion. AS was measured using the cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI), LS was calculated from echocardiographic data of three consecutive cardiac cycles. We enrolled 38 patients (age 76 ± 8years; men 60.5%; EF 65 ± 7%). LS and CAVI were, respectively, - 17.7 ± 3.7% and 9.7 ± 1.3. Multivariate analysis showed that LV performance was inversely related to height (p < 0.001) and to the presence of AF-related symptoms (p = 0.008). LS grew with increasing values of CAVI (p = 0.038). In elderly AF patients with preserved systolic function, LV performance is directly associated with AS. This link could influence atrium remodeling and the incidence of arrhythmia relapse.
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