Emerging imaging techniques after cardiac transplantation

Improvements in survival following cardiac transplantation have in part been driven by improved graft surveillance. Graft surveillance is, in the main, reliant upon three techniques: coronary angiography, endomyocardial biopsy and echocardiography. Developments in invasive and non-invasive imaging technology have revolutionised the assessment of the heart, in health and disease, offering new insights into tissue composition and myocardial metabolism. Here we aim to review the strengths and weaknesses of these techniques, and summarise the evidence in five fields of cardiac imaging following transplantation: cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) and molecular imaging techniques.
Source: The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation - Category: Transplant Surgery Authors: Source Type: research