Long term cardiac MRI surveillance in patients transplanted for ischemic cardiomyopathy: myocardial ECV and strain variation.

Motivation: Ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is associated with low-grade chronic inflammation which may persist after heart transplantation (HTx) and impact graft function and tissue characteristics in the post-HTx period. Goal(s): Our goal was verify whether any difference in graft tissue characteristics or function was evident during long-term follow up by cardiac MRI between patients transplanted for ischemic DCM and those transplanted for non-ischemic indications. Approach: Longitudinal analysis of graft tissue mapping and 2D FTS was performed on patients transplanted for ischemic DCM (n=13) and non-ischemic indications (n=50). Results: In the non-ischemic DCM cohort, tissue mapping and FTS parameters, ECV and GCS, worsened over time. Impact: No effect of pre-HTx low grade inflammation was evident on graft tissue characteristics and function in patients transplanted for ischemic DCM. Cardiac MRI may play an important role in long term monitoring of patients undergoing HTx.