Correlation of Echocardiographic Left Atrial Abnormality With Myocardial Ischemia During Myocardial Perfusion Assessment in the Presence of Known Left Ventricular Hypertrophy

Left atrial (LA) abnormality, an easily quantifiable parameter of left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction, has been associated with cardiovascular risk similar to that of LV hypertrophy. The correlation between LV hypertrophy and LA abnormality among patients undergoing myocardial perfusion (MP) study has not been described. We prospectively studied 78 consecutive patients with LV hypertrophy who underwent MP study after screening for electrocardiographic and echocardiographic LA abnormality over a 6-month period. Of those, 48 had a positive MP imaging result, and 30 did not. LA size (p = 0.002) and P-wave duration (p = 0.017) were significantly increased in the former. The differential change in LA size (no defect = 35 ± 4, mild = 36 ± 5, moderate = 38 ± 5, severe = 44 ± 5 mm; p