Speckle‐tracking echocardiography can predict atrial fibrillation in patients with supraventricular tachycardia

Purpose Atrioventricular nodal reentry tachycardia (AVNRT) is the most common supraventriculer arrhythmia in daily clinical practice. Comorbidity of AVNRT and atrial fibrillation (AF) has been well documented in some patients and AF development has been observed more frequently in AVNRT patients during their long‐term follow‐up. This study was conducted in order to investigate the left atrial two‐dimensional‐speckle‐tracking echocardiographic (STE) parametres as the predictors of the occurence of AF in long‐term follow‐up in patients with spontaneously developed AF during AVNRT ablation. Methods Two hundred and thirty two consecutive AVNRT patients who developed spontaneous AF during ablation procedure were included in the study. The patients were followed up for a mean follow‐up period of 6.2 ± 2.1 years. All patients were evaluated using the 2D‐STE method. AF was developed in 34 patients during the follow‐up period. Cox regression analysis was performed in order to identify the independent predictors of AF occurence. Results Left atrial LA‐res, LA‐pump, LA‐SRs, LA‐SRe, and LA‐SRa values were found to be significantly decreased in the group of patients that developed AF during the follow‐up period (p