ArticleCardiovascular ultrasound2021
Usefulness of speckle tracking echocardiography and biomarkers for detecting acute cellular rejection after heart transplantation.
Article in Cardiovascular ultrasound, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Speckle-tracking echocardiography of left and right ventricle and acute cellular rejection in orthotropic heart transplantation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The international journal of cardiovascular imaging · 2025Pooled it
- Echocardiographic Assessment After Heart Transplant.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Donor-Derived Cell-Free DNA Versus Left Ventricular Longitudinal Strain and Strain-Derived Myocardial Work Indices for Identification of Heart Transplant Injury.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Comparative Analysis of Conventional and Speckle Tracking Echocardiographic Variables between Patients with Unrejected Heart Transplants and Healthy Individuals.Arquivos brasileiros de cardiologia · 2024Article
- Trajectory of Diastolic Function after Heart Transplantation as Assessed by Left Atrial Deformation Analysis.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Heart transplantation and anti-HLA antibodY: myocardial dysfunction and prognosis - HeartLAy study.ESC heart failure · 2023Article
- New Non-Invasive Imaging Technologies in Cardiac Transplant Follow-Up: Acquired Evidence and Future Options.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Cardiac Allograft Injuries: A Review of Approaches to a Common Dilemma, With Emphasis on Emerging Techniques.International journal of heart failure · 2022Review
- Evaluation of the myocardial deformation in the diagnosis of rejection after heart transplantation.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Article
- Acute Cellular Rejection in Heart Transplant Patients: Insights of Global Longitudinal Strain, Myocardial Work, and an Exclusive Group of Chagas Disease.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Article
- Correction to: Usefulness of speckle tracking echocardiography and biomarkers for detecting acute cellular rejection after heart transplantation.Cardiovascular ultrasound · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
14 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAcute cellular rejection (ACR) is a major complication after heart transplantation. Endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) remains the gold standard for its diagnosis, but it has concerning complications. We evaluated the usefulness of speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) and biomarkers for detecting ACR after heart transplantation.
methodsWe prospectively studied 60 transplant patients with normal left and right ventricular systolic function who underwent EMB for surveillance 6 months after transplantation. Sixty age- and sex-matched healthy individuals constituted the control group. Conventional echocardiographic parameters, left ventricular global longitudinal, radial and circumferential strain (LV-GLS, LV-GRS and LV-GCS, respectively), left ventricular systolic twist (LV-twist) and right ventricular free wall longitudinal strain (RV-FWLS) were analyzed just before the procedure. We also measured biomarkers at the same moment.
resultsAmong the 60 studied patients, 17 (28%) had severe ACR (grade ≥ 2R), and 43 (72%) had no significant ACR (grade 0 - 1R). The absolute values of LV-GLS, LV-twist and RV-FWLS were lower in transplant patients with ACR degree ≥ 2 R than in those without ACR (12.5% ± 2.9% vs 14.8% ± 2.3%, p=0.002; 13.9° ± 4.8° vs 17.1° ± 3.2°, p=0.048; 16.6% ± 2.9% vs 21.4%± 3.2%, p < 0.001; respectively), while no differences were observed between the LV-GRS or LV-GCS. All of these parameters were lower in the transplant group without ACR than in the nontransplant control group, except for the LV-twist. Cardiac troponin I levels were significantly higher in patients with significant ACR than in patients without significant ACR [0.19 ng/mL (0.09-1.31) vs 0.05 ng/mL (0.01-0.18), p=0.007]. The combination of troponin with LV-GLS, RV-FWLS and LV-Twist had an area under curve for the detection of ACR of 0.80 (0.68-0.92), 0.89 (0.81-0.93) and 0.79 (0.66-0.92), respectively.
conclusionHeart transplant patients have altered left ventricular dynamics compared with control individuals. The combination of troponin with strain parameters had higher accuracy for the detection of ACR than the isolated variables and this association might select patients with a higher risk for ACR who will benefit from an EMB procedure in the first year after heart transplantation.
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