Figure 1.

(A,B) Three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiograph of the left atrium (LA). Two tracking lines are set manually along the endocardial LA wall, from one edge of the mitral annulus to the other edge, in each orthogonal apical view plane. The remaining tracking lines are set automatically in 3 short-axis planes. When needed, one can adjust the tracking lines in the 3 short-axis planes, at the basal (C3), mid (C5), and roof (C7) portions of the LA. The LA area strain is computed for 16 regional segments. (D) Bull’s eye map showing the LA area strain for each segment (color-coded according to the color scale). (E) Temporal LA area strain profiles during a cardiac cycle.