Left Atrial Remodeling in Patients With Severe Rheumatic Mitral Stenosis and Sinus Rhythm Using Two-Dimensional and Three-Dimensional Speckle Tracking Echocardiography.

Background: In mitral stenosis (MS), the combination of an increase in left atrium (LA) pressure and atrial inflammatory response is accompanied by increase in interstitial fibrosis of the atrial wall with disorganization of atrial muscle bundles, LA dysfunction and subsequently LA dilatation. We aimed to assess the effect of severe rheumatic MS on LA volumes and mechanics.

Methods: We enrolled 40 patients with pure severe rheumatic MS and sinus rhythm as a patient group and 30 healthy subjects as a control group.