Diagnosis of post-transplant coronary artery disease using contrast-enhanced coronary vessel wall imaging at 3.0 Tesla
✍ Scribed by Tarique Hussain; Matthew Fenton; Sarah A Peel; Andrea Wiethoff; Rene M Botnar; Michael Burch; Gerald F Greil
- Publisher
- BioMed Central
- Year
- 2012
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 784 KB
- Volume
- 14
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1097-6647
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Coronary plaque characterization at 3.0 Tesla holds great potential for clinical benefit. Coronary allograft vasculopathy (CAV) occurs after heart transplantation and is an immune-mediated diffuse coronary intimal disease. We demonstrate the use of contrast-enhanced inversion-recovery prepared coronary vessel wall MRI at 3T for diagnosis. We further validate the technique in 23 patients with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), showing an accuracy of 91%. Direct non-invasive imaging has great potential benefit for screening and prevention in these patients. The study has further significant implications for conventional coronary atherosclerosis.