ArticleCardiovascular ultrasound2014
Left atrial dysfunction detected by speckle tracking in patients with systemic sclerosis.
Article in Cardiovascular ultrasound, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cardiac involvement assessment in systemic sclerosis using speckle tracking echocardiography: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2023Pooled it
- Association of Left Atrial Dysfunction with Pulmonary Hemodynamics and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis.CJC open · 2025Article
- Cardiac function and mechanics in systemic sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Echo research and practice · 2025Review
- The effect of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation on cardiac mechanics in systemic sclerosis.The international journal of cardiovascular imaging · 2025Article
- Inflammatory Biomarkers and Lipid Parameters May Predict an Increased Risk for Atrial Arrhythmias in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Association between Left Atrial Function and Survival in Systemic Sclerosis.Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2024Article
- Digital Ulcers and Ventricular Arrhythmias as Red Flags to Predict Replacement Myocardial Fibrosis in Systemic Sclerosis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Association between systemic sclerosis and left ventricle dysfunction: Findings from observational studies.Heliyon · 2023Article
- Evaluation of left cardiac chamber function with cardiac magnetic resonance and association with outcome in patients with systemic sclerosis.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2023Article
- The Role of Left Atrial Longitudinal Strain in the Diagnosis of Acute Cellular Rejection in Heart Transplant Recipients.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Sclerodermic Cardiomyopathy-A State-of-the-Art Review.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Diagnosis of Simultaneous Atrial and Ventricular Mechanical Performance in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis.Biology · 2022Article
- Reference ranges of tricuspid annulus geometry in healthy adults using a dedicated three-dimensional echocardiography software package.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Article
- Determinants of left ventricular structure, filling and long axis function in systemic sclerosis.PloS one · 2021Article
- Update on assessment and management of primary cardiac involvement in systemic sclerosis.Journal of scleroderma and related disorders · 2018Review
- Evaluation of left atrial volume and function in systemic sclerosis patients using speckle tracking and real-time three-dimensional echocardiography.Anatolian journal of cardiology · 2016Article
- Echocardiographic Evaluation of Left Atrial Mechanics: Function, History, Novel Techniques, Advantages, and Pitfalls.BioMed research international · 2015Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 8 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCardiac involvement is a relevant clinical finding in systemic sclerosis (SSc) and is associated with poor prognosis. Left atrial (LA) remodeling and/or dysfunction can be an early sign of diastolic dysfunction. Two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) is a novel and promising tool for detecting very early changes in LA myocardial performance.
aimTo assess whether STE strain parameters may detect early alterations in LA function in SSc patients.
methodsForty-two SSc patients (Group 1, age 50 ± 14 years, 95% females) without clinical evidence for cardiac involvement and 42 age- and gender-matched control subjects (Group 2, age 49 ± 13 years, 95% females) were evaluated with comprehensive 2D and Doppler echocardiography, including tissue Doppler imaging analysis. Positive peak left atrial longitudinal strain (ϵ pos peak), second positive left atrial longitudinal strain (sec ϵ pos peak), and negative left atrial longitudinal strain (ϵ neg peak) were measured using a 12-segment model for the LA, by commercially available semi-automated 2D speckle-tracking software (EchoPac PC version 108.1.4, GE Healthcare, Horten, Norway).
resultsAll SSc patients had a normal left ventricular ejection fraction (63.1 ± 4%). SSc patients did not differ from controls in E/A (Group 1 = 1.1 ± 0.4 vs Group 2 = 1.3 ± 0.4, p = .14) or pulmonary arterial systolic pressure (Group 1 = 24.1 ± 8 mmHg vs Group 2 = 21 ± 7 mmHg, p = .17). SSc patients did not show significantly different indexed LA volumes (Group 1 = 24.9 ± 5.3 ml/m2 vs Group 2 = 24.7 ± 4.4 ml/m2, p = .8), whereas E/e' ratio was significantly higher in SSc (Group 1 = 7.6 ± 2.4 vs Group 2 = 6.5 ± 1.7, p<0.05), although still within normal values. LA strain values were significantly different between the two groups (ϵ pos peak Group 1 = 31.3 ± 4.2% vs Group 2 = 35.0 ± 7.6%, p < .01, sec ϵ pos peak Group 1 = 18.4 ± 4 vs Group 2 = 21.4 ± 7.6, p < 0.05).
conclusion2D speckle-tracking echocardiography is a sensitive tool to assess impairment of LA mechanics, which is detectable in absence of changes in LA size and volume, and may represent an early sign of cardiac involvement in patients with SSc.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.