Comprehensive Assessment of Left Atrial Function: The Emerging Role of Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Feature Tracking

Abstract

Traditional volumetric parameters fall short of capturing the complex, phasic nature of atrial function. In contrast, atrial strain has become recognized as a sensitive, non-invasive imaging marker that enables earlier detection of myocardial dysfunction, refined risk stratification, and individualized therapeutic decision-making across a wide range of cardiovascular diseases. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance feature tracking (CMR-FT) has emerged as a robust imaging technique for evaluating atrial strain, offering high spatial resolution, high reproducibility, and independence from acoustic window limitations. Despite its promise, the routine clinical adoption of CMR-FT atrial strain remains limited. Key barriers include intervendor variability in strain values, the absence of standardized post-processing protocols, the lengthy acquisition times inherent to CMR studies, and the time required for post-processing atrial strain analysis. Overcoming these barriers is crucial to facilitate the integration of atrial strain assessment into routine clinical CMR protocols, particularly in patients with heart failure, valvular disease, or cardiomyopathy who undergo imaging for diagnostic or prognostic evaluation.