Left atrial enlargement in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

Abstract

To examine whether the left atrium is dilated in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation or not, left atrial dimension (LAD) on M-mode echocardiogram was 23.3 .+-. 0.7 mm (mean .+-. SE) in 24 normal subjects, 30.5 .+-. 0.7 mm in 58 patients without atrial fibrillation who had hypertension and/or ischemic heart disease, 35.5 .+-. 0.9 mm in 27 patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation of whom 23 had non-rheumatic cardiovascular diseases and 4 had idiopathic atrial fibrillation, 40.5 .+-. 1.1 mm in 38 patients with persistent atrial fibrillation of whom 30 had nonrheumatic cardiovascular diseases and 8 had idiopathic atrial fibrillation and 53.3 .+-. 2.0 mm in 17 patients with persistent atrial fibrillation who had rheumatic heart disease. LAD showed a stepwise and significant increase from the 1st to the 5th group. LAD of patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation was not related to either the number or duration of paroxysms. Apparently, the left atrium is slightly dilated in patients with proxysmal atrial fibrillation.