P2441The prognostic value of left atrial dyssynchrony in the general population

Abstract Introduction Parameters derived from left atrial (LA) speckle tracking such as LA peak reservoir strain and LA dyssynchrony are potent predictors of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in various patient populations. However, whether LA dyssynchrony as evaluated by speckle tracking is associated with long-term outcome in the general population is currently unknown. Methods In a cohort study with participants from the general population 385 participants without atrial fibrillation (AF), ischemic heart disease (IHD), heart failure (HF) or previous ischemic stroke (IS) had a health examination and an echocardiogram, including LA speckle tracking, performed. LA dyssynchrony was defined as the standard deviation of the time to peak regional atrial reservoir strain values. The endpoints were all-cause mortality, a combined endpoint of AF and IS, and a combined endpoint of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) comprised of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), HF or cardiovascular death (CVD). Results Median LA dyssynchrony was 42 ms (IQR: 22–58 ms), 60% percent of included participants were women, mean age was 55 years (SD 16 years), 34% had hypertension and 7% had diabetes mellitus. During a median follow up of 16.1 years (IQR 15.0–16.3 years), 83 (22%) participants died, 60 (15%) reached the composite endpoint of AF and IS, and 38 (10%) reached the composite MACE endpoint. Increasing LA dyssynchrony was associated with increasing age, lower estimated glomerular filtration rate, lower E/A ratio, lower e' and higher E/e'. In a univariable Cox regression, LA dyssynchrony was a significant predictor of all-cause mortality (HR 1.07, 95% CI 1.02–1.11, p=0.001, per 10 ms increase) but was not significantly associated with the combined endpoint of AF and IS (HR 1.05, 95% CI 1.00–1.10, p=0.064, per 10 ms increase) nor MACE (HR 1.04, 95% CI 0.98–1.12, p=0.22, per 10 ms increase). However, when adjusted for age, LA dyssynchrony did not predict all-cause mortality (HR 1.03, p=0.28), the combined endpoint of AF and IS (HR 1.01, p=0.83), or MACE (HR 0.99, p=0.88,). Similarly, after further adjustment for age, sex, smoking status, systolic blood pressure and cholesterol, LA dyssynchrony did not predict any of the study outcomes (All-cause mortality: HR 1.01, p=0.72) (AF and IS: HR 0.98, p=0.88) (MACE: HR 1.00, p=0.93). Conclusion In this general population study, LA dyssynchrony was not an independent predictor of all-cause mortality and did not predict MACE nor a composite outcome consisting of AF and IS.