Assessment of LAA Strain and Thrombus Mobility and Its Impact on Thrombus Resolution—Added-Value of a Novel Echocardiographic Thrombus Tracking Method

PURPOSE: The mobility of left atrial appendage (LAA) thrombi and changes hereof under anticoagulation may serve as a marker of both risk of embolism and efficacy of treatment. In this study, we sought to evaluate thrombus mobility and hypothesized that LAA dynamics and thrombus mobility could serve as a baseline marker of thrombus dissolvability. METHODS: Patients with two-dimensional transesophageal echocardiographic images of the LAA, and with evidence of LAA thrombus were included in this study. Using a speckle tracking algorithm, functional information from the LAA and thrombi of different patients was computed. While the LAA motion was quantified through the longitudinal strain, thrombus mobility was evaluated using a novel method by directly tracking the thrombus, isolated from the global cardiac motion. Baseline characteristics and echocardiographic parameters were compared between responders (thrombus resolution) and non-responders (thrombus persistence) to anticoagulation. RESULTS: We included 35 patients with atrial fibrillation with evidence of LAA thrombi. Patients had a mean age of 72.9 ± 14.1 years, exhibited a high risk for thromboembolism (CHA2DS2-VASc-Score 4.1 ± 1.5) and had moderately reduced LVEF (41.7 ± 14.4%) and signs of diastolic dysfunction (E/E′ = 19.7 ± 8.5). While anticoagulation was initiated in all patients, resolution was achieved in 51.4% of patients. Significantly higher LAA peak strain (− 3.0 ± 1.3 vs. − 1.6 ± 1.5%, p < 0.01) and thrombus mobility (0.33 ± 0.13 mm vs. 0.18 ± 0.08 mm, p < 0.01) were observed in patients in whom thrombi resolved (i.e. responders against non-responders). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed a high discriminatory ability for thrombus mobility with regards to thrombus resolution (AUC 0.89). CONCLUSION: Isolated tracking of thrombus mobility from echocardiographic images is feasible. In patients with LAA thrombus, higher thrombus mobility appeared to be associated with thrombus resolution. Future studies should be conducted to evaluate the role of the described technique to predict LAA thrombus resolution or persistence. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13239-022-00629-z.