WEDNESDAY, May 28 (HealthDay News) -- In patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), a combination of electrocardiographic and echocardiographic left atrial dysfunction carries a higher risk of heart failure and death than left atrial mechanical dysfunction alone, according to study findings published in the May 15 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.
Vignendra Ariyarajah, M.D., of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and colleagues conducted a study of 462 patients admitted with NSTEMI, of whom 108 (23 percent) developed new-onset heart failure after admission and 71 had echocardiographic left atrial enlargement.
Patients with echocardiographic left atrial enlargement had more post-discharge late cardiovascular complications, notably recurrent heart failure, the researchers report, and those with both echocardiographic and electrocardiographic left atrial enlargement were at 1.52 times the risk of recurrent heart failure and increased mortality versus those with only echocardiographic left atrial enlargement.
"This implies that a combination of electrical and mechanical dysfunction of the left atrium is significantly more predictive of increased cardiovascular events and mortality compared with left atrial mechanical dysfunction alone," the authors conclude.
Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
