Left atrial strain - an early marker of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in patients with hypertension and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation

2D LA strain image from four-chamber apical view. Setting the starting point of strain analysis at the beginning of the p wave on the ECG allowed us to define first negative peak, first positive peak and the difference of these peaks which corresponded to atrial contractile strain, conduit strain and reservoir strain respectivel