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Analysis of cardiac dimensions, mass and function in heart transplant recipients using 64-slice multi-detector

Maros Ferencik1, Shawn A Gregory, Javed Butler

  • 1Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.

The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation : the Official Publication of the International Society for Heart Transplantation
|April 24, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) shows moderate agreement with echocardiography for assessing cardiac structure and function in heart transplant recipients. This cardiac MDCT analysis offers valuable insights without increasing scan time, contrast, or radiation exposure.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Imaging
  • Transplant Medicine
  • Medical Diagnostics

Background:

  • Heart transplant recipients pose imaging challenges due to high heart rates and BMI.
  • Previous studies confirmed MDCT for coronary allograft vasculopathy detection.
  • MDCT's role in assessing cardiac structure and function in these patients remained unevaluated.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare 64-slice MDCT with 2D echocardiography for cardiac structure and function assessment.
  • To evaluate MDCT's accuracy in heart transplant recipients.
  • To determine inter-observer variability in MDCT analysis.

Main Methods:

  • 20 heart transplant recipients underwent 64-slice MDCT.
  • Semi-automated and automated software used for chamber dimensions, ejection fraction, and mass measurements.
  • MDCT results compared with blinded echocardiographic measurements.

Main Results:

  • Moderate agreement observed between MDCT and echocardiography for chamber dimensions (excluding left atrium).
  • Moderate correlation (R=0.49-0.54) for ejection fraction, with slightly lower values by MDCT.
  • Excellent inter-observer agreement for MDCT-derived left ventricular function (R=0.90) and mass (R=0.83).

Conclusions:

  • 64-slice MDCT demonstrates moderate agreement with echocardiography for cardiac structure and function in heart transplant recipients.
  • Low inter-observer variability supports MDCT's reliability.
  • Integrated cardiac structure and function analysis via MDCT requires no additional scan time, contrast, or radiation.
Abstract

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