Doppler tissue analysis of atrial electromechanical coupling in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

The aim of this study was to: (1) evaluate atrial electromechanical coupling using M-mode Doppler tissue; and (2) test its clinical impact for detecting atrial abnormalities in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF). Using Doppler tissue, the time intervals from the onset of P wave until the backward motions of the right and left atrioventricular rings in the apical 4-chamber view corresponding to the atrial contractions were measured. In paroxysmal AF group, these intervals were significantly longer than in the control group. Using the criteria that an abnormal time interval from the onset of P wave until the backward motion of the left atrioventricular ring is longer than 112 milliseconds, the sensitivity, the specificity, and the positive predictive values for paroxysmal AF are 73%, 93%, and 93%, respectively. This parameter is affected in patients with paroxysmal AF and should be useful for detecting atrial impairment related to paroxysmal AF.