Aims: Left ventricular (LV) circumferential strain (Ecc) is a sensitive and accurate index of regional myocardial function. Currently no studies have assessed its prognostic value in general population. We sought to investigate whether Ecc has prognostic value for predicting incident heart failure (HF) and other major cardiovascular events in asymptomatic individuals without history of previous cardiovascular diseases. Methods and results: We prospectively assessed incident HF and atherosclerotic events during a 5.5 짹 1.3 year period in 1768 asymptomatic individuals aged 45 to 84 (mean age 65 years; 47% female) who underwent tagged MRI for strain determination. During the follow-up period, 39 (2.2%) participants experienced incident HF and 108 (6.1%) participants had atherosclerotic cardiovascular events. Average of peak Ecc of 12-LV-segments (Ecc-global) and mid-slice (Ecc-mid) was -17.0짹2.4% and -17.5짹2.7%, respectively. Participants with average absolute Ecc (global and mid) lower than -16.3% and -16.9% had higher cumulative hazard of incident HF (log-rank test, p=0.001 and p=0.002, respectively). In cox regression analysis, Ecc-mid predicted incident HF independent of age, diabetes status, hypertension, interim myocardial infarction, LV mass index and LV ejection fraction (hazard ratio 1.15 per 1% , 95% CI 1.01-1.31, p=0.03). In addition, by adding Ecc-mid to risk factors, LV ejection fraction and LV mass index, we could obtain better global chi-square value (76.6 vs. 82.4, p=0.04) and significant category-less net-reclassification index (p=0.01, SE=0.18, z=2.53) for predicting HF. Ecc was also significantly related to the composite atherosclerotic cardiovascular events but its relationship was attenuated significantly after introducing LV mass index. Conclusion: Ecc provides robust, independent and incremental predictive value for incident HF in asymptomatic subjects without any history of previous clinical cardiovascular disease.