Relation of presence and severity of metabolic syndrome with left atrial mechanics in patients without overt diabetes: a deformation imaging study

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to investigate left atrium (LA) function by speckle tracking echocardiography in patients with metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) and to show a possible relationship between the severity of MetSyn and LA function and to determine the predictors of low strain in MetSyn patients. Methods: Our study design was observational and cross-sectional design consisted of 80 MetSyn patients without overt diabetes and 50 con- trols. The patients were classified into three groups based on the number of MetSyn criteria. The peak LA strain at the end of the ventricular systole (LAs-strain) as well as the LA strain with LA contraction (LAa-strain) was obtained. Correlation analysis performed to assess the asso- ciation of LA strain parameters with the severity of MetSyn and logistic regression analysis performed to assess the relationship of low LA strain with MetSyn. Results: Both LAs (37.5±8.7 vs. 26.0±10.2, p