Early detection of cardiac allograft rejection with proton nuclear magnetic resonance.

No reliable, noninvasive technique is currently available for the early detection of cardiac transplant rejection. In this study, pulse nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used (20 MHz) to detect cardiac allograft rejection in rats. Proton spin-lattice relaxation time (T1), proton spin-spin relaxation time (T2), and water content were measured in both recipient and donor hearts at 2, 4, 6, and 8 days after transplantation.