IJCS | Volume 31, Nº6, November / December 2018

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J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2004;17(10):1021-9. 18. Cameli M, Caputo M, Mondillo S, Ballo P, Palmerini E, Lisi M, et al. Feasibility and reference values of left atrial longitudinal strain imaging by two-dimensional speckle tracking. Cardiovasc Ultrasound. 2009 Feb 8;7:6. 19. Vianna-Pinton R, Moreno CA, Baxter CM, Lee KS, Tsang TS, Appleton CP. Two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography of the left atrium: feasibility and regional contraction and relaxation differences in normal subjects. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2008;22(3):299-305. 20. Kim D, Lee K, Lee S, Jeong SY, Lee YS, Choi YJ, et al. Feasibility of two-dimensional global longitudinal strain and strain rate imaging for the assessment of left atrial function: a study in subjects with a low probability of cardiovascular disease and normal exercise capacity. Echocardiography. 2009;26(10):1179-87. 21. Gottdiener J, Kitzman D, Aurigemma G, Arnold AM, Manolio TA. Left atrial volume, geometry, and function in systolic and diastolic heart failure of persons > or =65 years of age (the Cardiovascular Health Study). Am J Cardiol. 2006;97(1):83-9. 22. Syed F, Desimone C, Friedman PA, Asirvatham SJ. Left atrial appendage exclusion for atrial fibrillation. Cardiol Clin. 2014;32(4):601-25. 23. Hondo T, Okamoto M, Yamane T, Kawagoe T, Karakawa S, Yamagata T, et al. The role of the left atrial appendage: a volume loading study in open-chest dogs. Jpn Heart J. 1995;36(2):225-34. 24. Tabata T, Oki T, Yamada H, Abe M, Onose Y, Thomas JD. Relationship between left atrial appendage function and plasma concentration of atrial natriuretic peptide. Eur J Echocardiogr. 2000;1(2):130-7. 25. Davis CA 3rd, Rembert JC, Greenfield JC Jr. Compliance of left atrium with and without left atrium appendage. Am J Physiol. 1990;259(4 Pt 2):H1006-8. 26. Kamohara K, Popovic Z, Daimon M, Martin M, Ootaki Y, Akiyama M, et al. Impact of left atrial appendage exclusion on left atrial function. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2007;133(1):174-81. 27. Tabata T, Oki T, Yamada H, Iuchi A, Ito S, Hori T, et al. Role of Left Atrial Appendage in Left Atrial Reservoir Function as Evaluated by Left Atrial Appendage Clamping. Am J Cardiol. 1998;81(3):327-32. 28. Johansson B, Bech-Hanssen O, Berglin E, Blomström P, Holmgren A, Jensen SM, et al. Atrial function after left atrial epicardial cryoablation for atrial fibrillation in patients undergoingmitral valve surgery. J Interv Card Electrophysiol. 2012;33(1):85-91. 29. Hanna I, Kolm P, Martin R, Reisman M, Gray W, Block PC. Left Atrial Structure and Function After Percutaneous Left Atrial Appendage Transcatheter Occlusion (PLAATO): six-month echocardiographic follow-up. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2004;43(10):1868-72. 30. Sasaki S, Watanabe T, Tamura H, Nishiyama S, Wanezaki M, Sato C, et al. Left atrial strain as evaluated by two-dimensional speckle tracking predicts left atrial appendage dysfunction in patients with acute ischemic stroke. BBA Clin. 2014 Sep 28;2:40-7. 31. Coisne A, Pilato R, Brigadeau F, Klug D, Marquie C, Souissi Z, et al. Percutaneous left atrial appendage closure improves left atrial mechanical function through Frank-Starlingmechanism. Heart Rhythm. 2017;14(5):710-6. References Madeira et al. Atrial appendage closure and atrial performance Int J Cardiovasc Sci. 2018;31(6)569-577 Original Article This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License All the procedures in this study were in accordance with the 1975 Helsinki Declaration, updated in 2013. Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.