Left atrium: A forgotten biomarker and a potential target in cardiovascular medicine

Emerging evidence shows the clinical usefulness of left atrium analysis in different fields of cardiovascular medicine in terms of diagnosis, prognosis and as a potential target for medical treatment. Left atrium structural and functional remodeling has been shown to be a sensitive marker able to detect high-risk individuals in the general population and in subjects with known cardiovascular diseases such as atrial fibrillation, heart failure, ischemic heart disease and valvular heart disease. This review aims to summarize the methods used to assess left atrium structure and function, focusing on its role to identify subclinical and clinical cardiovascular disease and to provide additional prognostic information for stratifying high-risk subjects.