Left Atrial Strain Predicts Pro-Thrombotic State in Patients with Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation

Background and Purpose: Atrial fibrillation (AF) has a high prevalence in the population and it is responsible for up to the 25% of the strokes in elderly people. The aim of our study was to assess the correlations of left atrial (LA) functional parameter, global peak atrial longitudinal strain (PALS), derived from speckle tracking echocardiography (STE), with transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) findings in patients with persistent AF undergoing TEE before electrical cardioversion or ablation procedures.