Open AccessLeft Atrium: Still a neglected chamber?
Author(s) -
Maria Chiara Todaro,
Bijoy K. Khandheria
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of cardiovascular echography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.255
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 2347-193X
pISSN - 2211-4122
DOI - 10.4103/2211-4122.143967
Subject(s) - medicine , cardiology , atrial fibrillation , speckle tracking echocardiography , heart failure , cardiac magnetic resonance , cardiac magnetic resonance imaging , magnetic resonance imaging , valvular heart disease , left atrium , radiology , ejection fraction
It is widely recognized that an effective cardiovascular system is based upon both a good ventricular-vascular interplay and a good ventricular-atrial interaction in all the phases of cardiac cycle. Moreover, left atrial dysfunction has been identified to be contributory in several common cardiovascular conditions, such as heart failure, atrial fibrillation and valvular heart disease; for instance, a good anatomical and functional assessment of this cardiac chamber is mandatory. For this purpose a multimodality imaging approach - including two-dimensional and three-dimensional echocardiography, speckle tracking technique, cardiac computed tomography (CT) and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) - is the most suitable one to achieve the best functional and anatomical evaluation of this cardiac chamber.