Dagmar Hartung1,2, Rongjun Chen3, Marcel Gutberlet1,2, Song Rong3, Mi-Sun Jang3, Jan Hinrich Braesen4, Martin Meier2,5, Hermann Haller3, Frank Wacker1,2, Faikah Gueler3, and Hueper Katja1,2
1Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany, 2Rebirth, Hannover, Germany, 3Clinic for Nephrology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany, 4Institute for Pathology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany, 5Imaging Center of the Central Animal Laboratory, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
Acute cardiac allograft
rejection is a frequent and life-threatening complication during the first year
after heart transplantation (HTx) and therefore early detection is most
important. The standard of care for HTx recipients is periodic rejection
surveillance by endomyocardial biopsy. We investigated whether T2 mapping
allows non-invasive detection of acute cardiac allograft rejection in mice. We
demonstrated that myocardial T2 is significantly increased in allogenic HTx
compared to isogenic HTx mice on day 6 after transplantation likely reflecting
myocardial edema and corresponds to the extent of T cell infiltration. Thus,
non-invasive T2 mapping might enable early and non-invasive detection of acute
cardiac allograft rejection.
