Assessment of atrial function.

This article discusses the traditional and more recent echocardiographic measures that have been employed to evaluate atrial function. Conventional parameters commonly used and reported in the literature include the study of the various phases of atrial activity using atrial volume measurements, the peak A wave velocity, its velocity time integral (VTI) and the fraction of atrial contribution (all obtained from transmitral flow), as also the atrial ejection force. Newer parameters for atrial function assessment include Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) including segmental atrial contractility using colour Doppler tissue imaging (CDTI) and estimates of atrial strain and strain rate.