The impact of left atrial mechanics on adverse events and clinical outcome after cardiac surgery

Post-operative atrial fibrillation (POAF) represents a common complication after cardiac surgery that is associated with unfavorable clinical outcome. Identifying patients at risk for POAF is crucial but challenging.

This study aimed to investigate the prognostic potential of speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) on POAF and fatal adverse events from a long-term perspective.

A total of 124 patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery were prospectively enrolled and underwent pre-operative STE. Patients were followed prospectively for the occurrence of POAF within the entire hospitalization and reaching the secondary endpoints cardiovascular (CV) and all-cause mortality.

Within the study population 43.5% (n=53) of enrolled individuals developed POAF. After a median follow-up of 3.9 years, 25 (20.2%) patients died. We observed that patients presenting with POAF had lower global peak atrial longitudinal strain (PALS) values compared to the non-POAF arm (POAF: 14.8% [95% CI: 10.9–17.8] vs. non-POAF: 19.4% [95% CI: 14.8–23.5], p<0.001). Moreover, global PALS was a strong and independent predictor for POAF (adjusted Odds Ratio per 1-SD: 0.37 [95% CI: 0.22–0.65], p<0.001), and independently associated with mortality (adjusted Hazard Ratio per 1-SD: 0.63 [95% CI: 0.40–0.99], p=0.048). CART analysis revealed a cut-off value of <17% global PALS as high-risk for both POAF and mortality.

Global PALS is associated with the development of POAF following surgery in an unselected patient population undergoing CABG and/or valve surgery. Since patients with global PALS <17% face a poor long-term prognosis, routine assessment of global PALS needs to be considered in terms of proper secondary prevention in the era of personalized medicine.

Type of funding sources: None.