Evaluation of Long-Term Impact of Pericardiectomy on Left Atrial Functions in Patients with Constrictive Pericarditis Using Speckle Tracking Echocardiography.

The aims of this study were to explore the long-term impact of pericardiectomy on left atrial (LA) functions in patients with constrictive pericarditis (CP) using speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) and to correlate post-operative LA functions with clinical status. Echocardiographic examinations were undertaken in 29 patients with CP 1 wk before and 1, 6 and 12 mo after pericardiectomy. STE was performed to obtain LA global longitudinal strain, including strain during the conduit phase (LAScd), strain during the contraction phase (LASct) the sum of the latter and strain during the reservoir phase (LASr). Control patients consisted of 29 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers. LASct, LAScd and LASr obtained 6 mo after pericardiectomy improved significantly compared with pre-operative values, but were still lower than the values for control patients. Further increases were observed gradually with normalization of LASct 12 mo after pericardiectomy. However, there were still significant differences between LAScd and LASr obtained in control patients and those obtained 12 mo after pericardiectomy. Moreover, the improvements in LAScd, LASct and LASr 12 mo after pericardiectomy correlated well with symptomatic clinical alleviation (p < 0.01). These results indicate that LA strains analyzed with STE might be useful in evaluating the long-term impact of pericardiectomy on LA functions.