Reduced Peak Atrial Systolic Mitral Annular Velocity Predicts the Development of Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation

We investigated whether the echocardiographic parameters of the left atrium (LA) can predict the development of nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF). Among 14,062 patients ( > 20 years old) who underwent an echocardiographic examination were evaluated, 2,606 patients who underwent follow-up ECG with an interval of > 6 months were investigated. Newly developed AF was noted in 42 (1.6%) patients with follow-up duration of 31.8 ± 8.9 months. Cox regression analysis revealed that a higher left atrial volume index (hazard ratio [HR ]= 1.06; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03–1.09, P < 0.001), relative wall thickness (RWT) of ≥ 0.407 (HR = 2.74, 95% CI 1.39–5.41, P = 0.004), a reduced peak atrial systolic mitral annular velocity (HR = 0.845, 95% CI 0.72–0.99, P = 0.037), and an advanced age (HR = 1.04, 95% CI 1.01–1.07, P = 0.009) were independently related to the development of nonvalvular AF. Therefore, reduced A ' , which is parameter of LA contractile function, might be an important predictor for the development of nonvalvular AF.