Comparison of Intravascular Ultrasound and Quantitative Angiography for Evaluation of Coronary Artery Disease in theTransplanted Heart

Accelerated coronary atherosclerosis is a major factor limiting long term survival after orthotopic heart transplantation (ORT) [1,2].The prevalence of coronary artery disease detected by angiography in heart transplant recipients approaches 36 to 60% at 3-5 years after transplantation [3,4]. Intravascular ultrasound is a new imaging technique with ability to study vascular wall structure and it has been used to measure vessel dimension and the efficacy of interventional procedures [5,8]. Intracoronary ultrasound offers early detection and quantitation of transplant coronary disease and provides characterization of vessel wall morphology [9]...

Keywords: Heart Transplantation, Coronary Artery Disease, intravascularultrasound