Assessment of left atrial appendage stunning by real-time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography after ablation of atrial fibrillation

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the role of real-time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography(RT3D-TEE) in non-valvular atrial fibrillation with left atrial appendage(LAA) stunning after catheter ablation.Methods Clinical and echocardiographic variables were analyzed by univariate regression in order to investigate the relationship between the group of LAA stunning and others in 28 patients after catheter ablation.Results Univariate analysis revealed difference in persisting time of atrial fibrillation[(16.4 ± 11.6)weeks vs (21.3 ± 18.6) weeks,P ＜0.05],left atrial diameter[(43.4 ± 8.3) mm vs (47.6 ± 5.9) mm,P ＜0.05 ],left atrial emptying fraction (0.38 ± 0.04 vs 0.30 ± 0.09,P ＜0.05).LAA emptying fraction based on three-dimensional volume measurements had significant difference (0.20 ± 0.03 vs 0.12 ± 0.02,P ＜ 0.001) between the group of LAA stunning and other cases.Conclusions LAA ejection fraction calculation by RT3D-TEE is feasible and more accurate than by clinical and other echocardiographic in LAA stunning after ablaton of atrial fibrillation. Key words: Echocardiography,real-time three-dimension; Echocardiography,transesophageal; Atrial appendage; Atrial fibrillation; Catheter ablation