PECULIARITIES OF STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL REMODELING OF MYOCARDIUM IN PATIENTS WITH PAROXYSMAL AND PERSISTENT FORMS OF ATRIAL FIBRILLATION

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to assess       echocardiographic values characteristic of the structure and function of the left atrium (LA) in patients with paroxysmal and persistent forms of atrial fibrillation (AF).We examined 40 patients with AF associated with various cardiovascular pathology without marked structural myocardial involvement and 19 patients with different forms of ischemic heart disease and/or arterial hypertension (AH) without AF episodes in anamnesis. Structural and functional state of the heart was assessed by two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography using standard views of the ultrasound system “Philips”. We assessed the following values: stroke volume, volume, volume index, ejection fraction of the left atrium for two- and four-chamber positions, biplane method, area-length method, as well as the left atrium geometry (length, area, volume) in two- and four-chamber position during systole and diastole of the left ventricle, minimal and maximal medial-lateral and inferior-superior size of the left atrium for 2D-regimen. In patients with persistent form of AF echocardiography findings except for stroke volume  were significantly different from those in patients from both control group without rhythm disturbances and the group with paroxysmal AF (p<0,05), thus suggesting that in persistent form of AF remodeling of the left atrium is expressed to a greater degree.