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Left Atrial Volume Measurements More Accurate In Identifying Stroke Risk: Presented at ASE

CHICAGO, IL -- June 12, 2000 -- The size of one of the human heart chambers may be the key to unlocking information about a patient's future health risks. This is the conclusion of researchers who are presenting their findings on left atrial volume this week at the American Society of Echocardiography's 11th Annual Scientific Sessions in Chicago.

With the U.S. population growing older at an exponential rate, the need to identify patients at risk for serious medical events such as the likelihood of abnormal heart rhythm or stroke is great.

The Mayo Clinic researchers have seized upon a means of evaluating the heart using echocardiography that's showing great promise to accomplish just that. By measuring the volume of the left atrium, the researchers believe they have taken a significant step forward in assessing a patient's risk for developing stroke and other adverse conditions.

The study examined 2,748 patients aged 65 or older with regular heart rhythm at their first or only echocardiogram in 1990 through 1995. Patients with conditions such as previous stroke, valvular disease, atrial fibrillation, permanent pacemakers, and congenital heart abnormalities when the baseline test was done were excluded.

The group of test patients was followed for a period of approximately five years. In that time, approximately 11 percent developed stroke and approximately eight percent developed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF). Researchers compared measurements of one of the heart's four chambers (the left atrium) in patients who did suffer these events and learned that left atrial volume was a significant predictor of both stroke and AF.

According to one of the study's authors, Dr. James Seward of the Mayo Clinic, "using left atrial volume to predict future adverse events appears to give far more accurate results than the measurements we have been using historically including age itself."

According to Dr. Seward, the research revealed that "measuring just the dimension [the chamber from anterior to posterior] will tell you much less than measuring the volume. Using the chamber's dimensions only may cause you to miss the enlargement two out of three times." Armed with this knowledge, doctors and patients can better assess risk and take preventive steps to avoid life-threatening conditions like stroke.

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