The association between left atrial stiffness and low-voltage areas of left atrium in patients with atrial fibrillation

• Published in: Heart and vessels 2019-11, Vol.34 (11), p.1830-1838
• Main Authors: Kishima, Hideyuki, Mine, Takanao, Fukuhara, Eiji, Ashida, Kenki, Ishihara, Masaharu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Atria; Atrial Fibrillation - diagnosis; Atrial Fibrillation - physiopathology; Atrial Fibrillation - surgery; Atrial Function, Left - physiology; Atrial Remodeling - physiology; Atrium; Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering; Body Surface Potential Mapping - methods; Brain natriuretic peptide; Cardiac Surgery; Cardiology; Cardiovascular diseases; Catheter Ablation - methods; Coronary artery disease; Echocardiography; Electric potential; Female; Fibrillation; Follow-Up Studies; Heart Atria - diagnostic imaging; Heart Atria - physiopathology; Heart diseases; Heart Rate - physiology; Humans; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Male; Males; Mapping; Markers; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Multivariate analysis; Original Article; Retrospective Studies; Stiffness; Vascular Surgery; Voltage
• ISSN: 0910-8327; 1615-2573
• DOI: 10.1007/s00380-019-01423-z

The low-voltage areas of left atrium (LA-LVA) have recently been of significant focus. However, very few studies have focused on the association between LA function and LA-LVA, and the mechanism of appearance of LA-LVA remains unclear. We investigated the marker for the existence of LA-LVA using automated 3-D mapping system. We studied 92 patients (75 males, 68 ± 9 years, 47 non-paroxysmal AF) who received CA for AF and 40 control patients without AF. Echocardiography was performed before the CA, and high-density voltage mapping during sinus rhythm after pulmonary isolation was performed in AF patients. LA-LVA was defined as  10%) was detected in 19/92 AF patients (21%). Patients with LA-LVA were associated with higher LASI (1.64 ± 1.70 vs. 0.61 ± 0.46, p