[Relation between left atrial dimension and exercise capacity in endomyocardial fibrosis].

OBJECTIVE To assess whether exercise capacity is related to left atrial dimension (LAD) in patients with biventricular endomyocardial fibrosis. METHODS This study comprised 38 patients in sinus rhythm, with a mean age of 37.5 +/- 11.5 years (range, 11 to 59 years), 25 of whom were women. They were divided into 2 groups according to the NYHA functional class on hospital admission as follows: group A (12 patients) and group B (26 patients). All patients underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing to determine their maximum oxygen consumption (VO2 max), and their left atrial dimension was determined on echocardiography. RESULTS The VO2max values for groups A and B were 21.8 +/- 4.8 mL.kg(-1).min(-1) and 13.7 +/- 3.5 mL.kg(-1).min(-1), respectively, and the left atrial dimensions were 3.7 +/- 0.7 cm and 4.4 +/- 0.7 cm for groups A and B, respectively. A significant and inverse correlation was found between VO2max and LAD in the groups studied. CONCLUSION The increase in left atrial dimension is associated with impairment in exercise capacity in patients with endomyocardial fibrosis. Our findings support the use of left atrial dimension to estimate a more complex and difficult to assess index of functional capacity, such as VO2max.