Umeå University's logo

AIMS: This study aimed to investigate the incremental value offered by left atrial reservoir strain (LAS_r) to the 2016 American Society of Echocardiography/European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (ASE/EACVI) diastolic algorithm to identify elevated left ventricular (LV) filling pressure in patients with preserved ejection fraction (EF).

METHODS AND RESULTS: Near-simultaneous echocardiography and right heart catheterization were performed in 210 patients with EF ≥50% in a large, dual-centre study. Elevated filling pressure was defined as invasive pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) ≥15 mmHg. LAS_r was evaluated using speckle-tracking echocardiography. Diagnostic performance of the ASE/EACVI diastolic algorithm was validated against invasive reference and compared with modified algorithms incorporating LAS_r. Modest correlation was observed between E/e', E/A ratio, and LA volume index with PCWP (r = 0.46, 0.46, and 0.36, respectively; P < 0.001 for all). Mitral e' and TR peak velocity showed no association. The ASE/EACVI algorithm (89% feasibility, 71% sensitivity, 68% specificity) demonstrated reasonable ability (AUC = 0.69) and 68% accuracy to identify elevated LV filling pressure. LAS_r displayed strong ability to identify elevated PCWP (AUC = 0.76). Substituting TR peak velocity for LAS_r in the algorithm (69% sensitivity, 84% specificity) resulted in 91% feasibility, 81% accuracy, and stronger agreement with invasive measurements. Employing LAS_r as per expert consensus (71% sensitivity, 70% specificity) and adding LAS_r to conventional parameters (67% sensitivity, 84% specificity) also demonstrated greater feasibility (98% and 90%, respectively) and overall accuracy (70% and 80%, respectively) to estimate elevated PCWP.

CONCLUSIONS: LAS_r improves feasibility and overall accuracy of the ASE/EACVI algorithm to discern elevated filling pressures in patients with preserved EF.