Lower values of PALS are associated with an increased risk of AF recurrence after RFA .
PALS provides prognostic value in clinical practice
The usefulness of peak atrial longitudinal strain ( PALS ) in identifying patients at high risk of atrial fibrillation ( AF ) recurrence after radiofrequency ablation ( RFA )  has been investigated in several small AF population s. The aim of this systematic review and meta- analysis was to investigate whether PALS predicts recurrence of AF after RFA treatment .
Normal values and clinical relevance of left atrial myocardial function analysed by speckle-tracking echocardiography: multicentre study.
AIMS The aim of this multicentre study was to determine the normal range and the clinical relevance of the myocardial function of the left atrium ( LA ) analysed by 2D speckle-tracking echocardiography ( 2DSTE ) . METHODS AND RESULTS We analysed 329 healthy adult subjects prospect ively included in 10 centres and a validation group of 377 patients with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction ( LVDD ) . LA myocardial function was analysed by LA strain rate peak during LA contraction ( LA-SRa ) and LA strain peak during LA relaxation ( LA-Strain ) . The range of values of LA myocardial function in healthy subjects was LA-SRa -2.11 ± 0.61 s(-1 ) and LA-Strain 45.5 ± 11.4 % , and the lowest expected values of these LA analyses ( calculated as -1.96 SD from the mean of healthy subjects ) were LA-SRa -0.91 s(-1 ) and LA-Strain 23.1 % . Concerning the clinical relevance of these LA myocardial analyses , LA-SRa and LA-Strain detected subtle LA dysfunction in patients with LVDD , even though LA volumetric measurements were normal . In addition , in these patients we found that the functional class ( dyspnoea-NYHA classification ) was inversely related to both LA-Strain and LA-SRa . CONCLUSION In the present multicentre study analysing a large cohort of healthy subjects and patients with LVDD , the normal range and the clinical relevance of the myocardial function of the LA using 2DSTE have been determined
Lower values of PALS are associated with an increased risk of AF recurrence after RFA .
PALS provides prognostic value in clinical practice
The usefulness of peak atrial longitudinal strain ( PALS ) in identifying patients at high risk of atrial fibrillation ( AF ) recurrence after radiofrequency ablation ( RFA )  has been investigated in several small AF population s. The aim of this systematic review and meta- analysis was to investigate whether PALS predicts recurrence of AF after RFA treatment .