The role of multimodality cardiac imaging in the transplanted heart.
Heart transplantation (HT) is an established life-saving treatment option for patients with end-stage heart failure. Despite many advances in the field, the development of acute cellular rejection (ACR) and cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) represent significant causes of 1- and 5-year morbidity and mortality, respectively. The search for noninvasive techniques to assess cardiac allograft function and detect treatable ACR and CAV remains a priority objective for heart transplant professionals. In this review we will: 1) highlight the clinical significance of ACR and CAV in adult cardiac transplant recipients and 2) discuss how different noninvasive imaging modalities (echocardiography, cardiac computed tomography, myocardial perfusion imaging, and cardiac magnetic resonance) have been used in the evaluation of these clinical challenges after HT.
Estep
Jerry D
JD
Department of Cardiology, Section of Heart Failure and Heart Transplantation, and Cardiovascular Imaging Institute, Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. jestep@tmhs.org
Shah
Dipan J
DJ
Nagueh
Sherif F
SF
Mahmarian
John J
JJ
Torre-Amione
Guillermo
G
Zoghbi
William A
WA
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods; D004452:Echocardiography; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D055414:Myocardial Perfusion Imaging; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous; D016896:Treatment Outcome