Reference Values for Left Atrial Strain and Strain Rate Based on a Large Sample of Healthy Chinese Adults: An MR‐Feature Tracking Study.

Background: While reference values of left atrial (LA) deformation parameters in Western populations have been established, reference data in healthy Asian populations are limited. Purpose: To establish age‐ and sex‐specific reference values for LA strain and strain rate (SR) based on a large sample of healthy Chinese adults using magnetic resonance‐feature tracking (MR‐FT). Study Type: Retrospective. Population: Four hundred and eight healthy Chinese adults (220 males, aged 43.5 ± 11.5 years; 188 females, aged 45.3 ± 12.8 years). Field Strength/Sequence: 1.5 T/balanced steady‐state free precession. Assessment: Reservoir strain (εs), conduit strain (εe), booster strain (εa), peak positive SR (SRs), peak early negative SR (SRe), and peak late negative SR (SRa) were obtained by MR‐FT. Statistical Tests: We used Shapiro–Wilk test, Student's t‐test, Mann–Whitney U‐test, linear regression, and coefficient of determination (r2). Results: Women demonstrated significantly greater LA strain (εs [%]: 44.0 ± 9.9 vs. 38.3 ± 8.7; εe [%]: 26.7 ± 8.0 vs. 22.3 ± 6.8; εa [%]: 17.3 ± 4.4 vs. 16.0 ± 3.8) and SR (SRs [/second]: 1.8 ± 0.5 vs. 1.6 ± 0.4; SRe [/second]: −2.5 ± 0.9 vs. −2.1 ± 0.7; SRa [/second]: −1.9 ± 0.6 vs. −1.8 ± 0.5) than men. For both sexes, aging was significantly associated with decreased εs, SRs, εe, and SRe (r2 = 0.07, r2 = 0.05, r2 = 0.19, and r2 = 0.24 for men; r2 = 0.13, r2 = 0.11, r2 = 0.31, and r2 = 0.46 for women), and significantly increased εa (r2 = 0.03 and r2 = 0.05 for men and women). There was no significant correlation between age and SRa in both sexes (P = 0.057 and P = 0.377 for men and women, respectively). Data Conclusion: We provide age‐ and sex‐specific reference values for LA strain and SR based on a large sample of healthy Chinese adults using MR‐FT. Level of Evidence: 3 Technical Efficacy Stage: 5 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]