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