Cardiac allograft vasculopathy after heart transplantation: electrocardiographically gated cardiac CT angiography for assessment.

Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of cardiac computed tomographic (CT) angiography without the use of β-blockers compared with that of invasive angiography for the detection of cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) in heart transplant recipients.

Materials And Methods: The study was approved by the research ethics committee and informed consent was obtained. Heart transplant recipients (n = 138) scheduled for routine invasive angiography were prospectively enrolled to undergo CT to evaluate coronary artery calcification and retrospectively gated cardiac CT angiography with a 64-section scanner.

Brachial artery low-flow-mediated constriction is increased early after coronary intervention and reduces during recovery after acute coronary syndrome: characterization of a recently described index of vascular function.

Aims: The endothelium plays a role in regulating vascular tone. Acute and dynamic changes in low-flow-mediated constriction (L-FMC) and how it changes with regard to traditional flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) have not been described. We aimed to investigate the changes in brachial artery L-FMC following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and during recovery from non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI).

Does myocardial perfusion scintigraphy predict improvement in symptoms and exercise capacity following successful elective percutaneous coronary intervention?

Background: Elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) without inducible ischaemia may not be beneficial. We investigated the prevalence of inducible hypoperfusion using myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) in patients undergoing PCI, and its ability to predict functional outcome.

Methods And Results: One hundred and twenty-three patients listed for elective PCI underwent MPS, using treadmill exercise where possible.

Regression of dilated-hypokinetic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by biventricular cardiac pacing.

The evolution of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) towards dilatation and hypokinesis is an increasingly recognized complication with a high incidence of adverse outcomes, including sudden cardiac death, requiring defibrillator implantation and cardiac transplantation. It is generally regarded as the irreversible 'burnt-out' end-stage manifestation of HCM. We report one of the first cases of profound regression of the dilated-hypokinetic state by the application of biventricular pacing and cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).

Low incidence and severity of transplant-associated coronary artery disease in heart transplants from live donors.

Background: Hearts transplanted from patients undergoing heart-lung transplantation (domino hearts) are unique because they have not been subjected to the deleterious effects of brain-stem death. This study examines the incidence and severity of transplant-associated coronary artery disease in recipients of domino hearts.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed angiographic and clinical data from 97 patients who survived more than 1 year after domino heart transplantation at our hospital.