Inoue Katsuji, Kawakami Hiroshi, Akazawa Yusuke, Higashi Haruhiko, Higaki Takashi, Yamaguchi Osamu
Department of Cardiology, Pulmonology, Hypertension & Nephrology, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, Toon 791-0295, Ehime, Japan.
Department of Regional Pediatrics and Perinatology, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, Toon 791-029, Ehime, Japan.
J Cardiovasc Dev Dis. 2022 Feb 27;9(3):68. doi: 10.3390/jcdd9030068.
The left and right atria serve as buffer chambers to control the flow of venous blood for ventricular filling. If an atrium is absent, blood does not flow effectively into the ventricle, leading to venous blood retention and low cardiac output. The importance of atrial function has become increasingly recognized, because left atrial (LA) function contributes to cardiac performance, and loss of LA function is associated with heart failure. LA volume change has been used for LA function assessment in experimental and clinical studies. In conjunction with LA pressure, the LA pressure-volume relationship provides a better understanding of LA mechanics. LA strain measurement by speckle tracking echocardiography was introduced to evaluate three components of LA function as a (booster) pump, reservoir and conduit. Furthermore, increasing evidence supports the theory that LA reservoir strain has prognostic utility in various cardiac diseases. In this review, we summarize LA contribution to maintain cardiac performance by evaluating LA function with echocardiography according to our experiences and previous reports. Furthermore, we discuss LA dysfunction in challenging cardiac diseases of cardiac amyloidosis and adult congenital heart disease.
左右心房作为缓冲腔室，控制静脉血流动以充盈心室。如果心房缺失，血液无法有效地流入心室，导致静脉血潴留和心输出量降低。心房功能的重要性已得到越来越多的认可，因为左心房（LA）功能有助于心脏功能，而左心房功能丧失与心力衰竭相关。左心房容积变化已在实验和临床研究中用于评估左心房功能。结合左心房压力，左心房压力-容积关系能更好地理解左心房力学。通过斑点追踪超声心动图测量左心房应变，以评估左心房作为（增压）泵、贮器和管道的三个功能组成部分。此外，越来越多的证据支持左心房贮器应变在各种心脏疾病中具有预后价值这一理论。在本综述中，我们根据自身经验和既往报道，通过超声心动图评估左心房功能，总结左心房对维持心脏功能的作用。此外，我们还讨论了心脏淀粉样变性和成人先天性心脏病等具有挑战性的心脏疾病中的左心房功能障碍。
