Relationship between mitral annular and left atrial function as assessed by three-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography in healthy volunteers

Introduction: Left atrium is a heart chamber with dinamic motion communicating with left ventricle through the mitral valve and its annulus. Aim: The aim of the present study was to analyse whether relationships could exist between three-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography-derived morphologic and functional parameters of the left atrium and mitral annulus in healthy subjects. Method: The present study comprised 35 healthy volunteers. Maximum (Vmax) and minimum (Vmin) left atrial volumes and left atrial volume before atrial contraction (VpreA) were measured, and several functional parameters based on these volumes were calculated in all cases. Morphologic and functional characteristics of the mitral annulus were also determined. Results: While Vmax showed correlations with both systolic and diastolic mitral annulus parameters, Vmin-VpreA correlated with only systolic ones. While total left atrial stroke volume correlated with both systolic and diastolic mitral annular parameters, passive left atrial stroke volume showed correlations only with diastolic ones. Conclusions: Correlations exist between left atrial and mitral annular morphological and functional characteristics in healthy subjects.