Left atrial strain differences between hypertensive and sarcomeric left ventricular hypertrophy: a sign of sarcomeric auricular myopathy?

Abstract Introduction In clinical practice, left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy is a common finding that can be caused by physiologic or pathologic conditions. An etiologic diagnosis is extremely important because it may change the prognosis and management of the patient and his family. Left atrial (LA) dysfunction is common due to diastolic dysfunction but, in patients with sarcomeric LV hypertrophy, primary cardiomyopathy disease could also be present. Purpose To evaluate if there are differences in LA function between arterial hypertension (HT) and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients. Methods 73 patients with HCM (according to ESC guidelines criteria) and 82 patients with HT (under treatment with ≥1 hypertensive drug for ≥3 months) and ≥13mm of LV hypertrophy underwent an echocardiography to assess LA function with strain analysis and LV diastolic function. Continuous normally distributed variables were compared with T-student test and categoric variables with square-chi or exact Fisher test if required, accepting as significant a p-value