Left atrium plays a critical role in maintaining the normal left ventricular systolic and diastolic function and predicting the prognosis of patients with cardiovascular events.Conventional echocardiography detect left atrium dysfunction through mono-dimensional left atrial diameter quantification

bi-dimensional areas and volume estimation.The conventional parameters are often normal in early stage of the diseases

so there are some limits in evaluating the left atrial function early.Recently

with the progress of the echocardiography

especially three-dimensional speckle tracking imaging（3 D-STI）

it allows discovering the changes of left atrial function before anatomical alteration occurs and has great values in the diagnosis of the cardiovascular disease early and assessing the prognosis of diseases.The role of 3 D-STI in evaluating left atrial function is reviewed in this article.