Myocardial Strain and Strain Rate from Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography are Unable to Differentiate Asymptomatic Biopsy-Proven Cellular Rejection in the First Year after Cardiac Transplantation

摘要

Background: Cellular rejection after cardiac transplantation is treatable with timely diagnosis. Because noninvasive methods for diagnosis are limited, surveillance endomyocardial biopsies are routinely performed in the first year after transplantation. The aim of this study was to test whether myocardial strain and strain rate as assessed by speckle-tracking echocardiography would be a sensitive noninvasive method for the detection of asymptomatic rejection.