Evaluation of the Role of Conventional and Tissue Doppler Imaging Echocardiography in Detection of Acute Cardiac Allograft Rejection in Heart Transplant Recipients

authors:

avatar Zahra Ojaghi Haghighi 1 , avatar Ahmad Amin 2 , avatar Mitra Chitsazan 2 , avatar Sepideh Taghavi 2 , * , avatar Nasim Naderi 2 , avatar Mahsa Abdollahi 3 , avatar Kambiz Mozaffari 4

Echocardiography Research Center, Rajaei Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Department of Heart failure and Transplantation, Rajaei Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Rajaei Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Department of Pathology, Rajaei Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
International Cardiovascular Research Journal: Vol.10, issue 1; e10301
published online: March 01, 2016
article type: Research Article
received: May 01, 2014
revised: August 14, 2015
accepted: August 19, 2015

how to cite: Ojaghi Haghighi Z , Amin A, Chitsazan M, Taghavi S , Naderi N, et al. Evaluation of the Role of Conventional and Tissue Doppler Imaging Echocardiography in Detection of Acute Cardiac Allograft Rejection in Heart Transplant Recipients. Int Cardiovasc Res J. 2016;10(1):e10301. 

Abstract


Background: Endomyocardial Biopsy (EMB) is the gold standard test for diagnosis of acute allograft cardiac rejection.
Objectives: The present study aimed to assess the role of echocardiographic parameters in discriminating patients with and without evidence of acute cardiac allograft rejection.
Materials and Methods: In the present cross-sectional study, using convenience sampling, 63 EMB specimens were collected from the patients who had undergone biatrial orthotropic cardiac transplantation. The mean age of the recipients and donors was 30.46 ± 9.49 and 24.55 ± 7.64 years, respectively. There were 51(81%) male recipients and 39(62%) male donors. Echocardiographic examination was performed within the 24 hours of EMB. The data were entered into the SPSS statistical software, version 19 and were analyzed by chi-square test, student’s t-test, and one-way ANOVA as appropriated. All the data were two-tailed and P < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.
Results: Among the 63 EMB specimens evaluated in the present study, mild and moderate acute rejections were seen in 19(30%) and 5(8%) cases, respectively. On Doppler examination, the three groups (without rejection, with mild rejection, and with moderate acute rejection) were significantly different only regarding trans-tricuspid E wave (P = 0.040). Pulsed-wave Tissue Doppler Imaging (TDI) also revealed a significant difference between the patients with and without allograft rejection regarding early diastolic tricuspid and mitral annular motion velocities (P = 0.005 and P = 0.02, respectively).
Conclusions: It seems that echocardiographic parameters, including TDI, might be adjunct to, rather than substitution for, EMB findings for early diagnosis of acute allograft rejection.

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References

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