TY - JOUR
T1 - Non-invasive Imaging in the Evaluation of Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy in Heart Transplantation
T2 - A Systematic Review
AU - Ajluni, Steven C.
AU - Mously, Haytham
AU - Chami, Tarek
AU - Hajjari, Jamal
AU - Stout, Amber
AU - Zacharias, Michael
AU - ElAmm, Chantal
AU - Wilson, David
AU - Janus, Scott E.
AU - Al-Kindi, Sadeer G.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2022/8
Y1 - 2022/8
N2 - Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is the leading cause of long-term graft dysfunction in patients with heart transplantation and is linked with significant morbidity and mortality. Currently, the gold standard for diagnosing CAV is coronary imaging with intravascular ultrasound during traditional invasive coronary angiography. Invasive imaging, however, carries increased procedural risk and expense to patients in addition to requiring an experienced interventionalist. With the improvements in non-invasive cardiac imaging modalities such as transthoracic echocardiography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography, an alternative non-invasive imaging approach for the early detection of CAV may be feasible. In this systematic review, we explored the literature to investigate the utility of non-invasive imaging in diagnosis of CAV in >3000 patients across 49 studies. We also discuss the strengths and weaknesses for each imaging modality. Overall, all 4 imaging modalities show good to excellent accuracy for identifying CAV with significant variations across studies. Majority of the studies compared non-invasive imaging with invasive coronary angiography without intravascular imaging. In summary, non-invasive imaging modalities offer an alternative approach to invasive coronary imaging for CAV. Future studies should investigate longitudinal non-invasive protocols in low-risk patients after heart transplantation.
AB - Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is the leading cause of long-term graft dysfunction in patients with heart transplantation and is linked with significant morbidity and mortality. Currently, the gold standard for diagnosing CAV is coronary imaging with intravascular ultrasound during traditional invasive coronary angiography. Invasive imaging, however, carries increased procedural risk and expense to patients in addition to requiring an experienced interventionalist. With the improvements in non-invasive cardiac imaging modalities such as transthoracic echocardiography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography, an alternative non-invasive imaging approach for the early detection of CAV may be feasible. In this systematic review, we explored the literature to investigate the utility of non-invasive imaging in diagnosis of CAV in >3000 patients across 49 studies. We also discuss the strengths and weaknesses for each imaging modality. Overall, all 4 imaging modalities show good to excellent accuracy for identifying CAV with significant variations across studies. Majority of the studies compared non-invasive imaging with invasive coronary angiography without intravascular imaging. In summary, non-invasive imaging modalities offer an alternative approach to invasive coronary imaging for CAV. Future studies should investigate longitudinal non-invasive protocols in low-risk patients after heart transplantation.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cpcardiol.2022.101103
DO - 10.1016/j.cpcardiol.2022.101103
M3 - Review article
C2 - 35016989
AN - SCOPUS:85124622836
SN - 0146-2806
VL - 47
JO - Current Problems in Cardiology
JF - Current Problems in Cardiology
IS - 8
M1 - 101103
ER -