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. 2021 Oct;37(10):3027-3037.
doi: 10.1007/s10554-021-02284-2. Epub 2021 May 17.

Feature-tracking cardiac magnetic resonance left ventricular global longitudinal strain improves 6 months after kidney transplantation associated with reverse remodeling, not myocardial tissue characteristics

Maurício Fregonesi Barbosa  1   2 , Mariana Moraes Contti  3 , Luis Gustavo Modelli de Andrade  3 , Alejandra Del Carmen Villanueva Mauricio  4 , Sergio Marrone Ribeiro  5 , Gilberto Szarf  6   7
Affiliations

Feature-tracking cardiac magnetic resonance left ventricular global longitudinal strain improves 6 months after kidney transplantation associated with reverse remodeling, not myocardial tissue characteristics

Maurício Fregonesi Barbosa et al. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

To determine whether left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal strain (GLS) measured by feature-tracking (FT) cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) improves after kidney transplantation (KT) and to analyze associations between LV GLS, reverse remodeling and myocardial tissue characteristics. This is a prospective single-center cohort study of kidney transplant recipients who underwent two CMR examinations in a 3T scanner, including cines, tagging, T1 and T2 mapping. The baseline exam was done up to 10 days after transplantation and the follow-up after 6 months. Age and sex-matched healthy controls were also studied for comparison. A total of 44 patients [mean age 50 ± 11 years-old, 27 (61.4%) male] completed the two CMR exams. LV GLS improved from - 13.4% ± 3.0 at baseline to - 15.2% ± 2.7 at follow-up (p < 0.001), but remained impaired when compared with controls (- 17.7% ± 1.5, p = 0.007). We observed significant correlation between improvement in LV GLS with reductions of left ventricular mass index (r = 0.356, p = 0.018). Improvement in LV GLS paralleled improvements in LV stroke volume index (r = - 0.429, p = 0.004), ejection fraction (r = - 0.408, p = 0.006), global circumferential strain (r = 0.420, p = 0.004) and global radial strain (r = - 0.530, p = 0.002). There were no significant correlations between LV GLS, native T1 or T2 measurements (p > 0.05). In this study, we demonstrated that LV GLS measured by FT-CMR improves 6 months after KT in association with reverse remodeling, but not native T1 or T2 measurements.

Keywords: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging; Native T1; Renal transplant; Strain; Subclinical cardiac dysfunction.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Example of global longitudinal strain by FT-CMR in a 52-year-old man, living-donor kidney transplant patient. Top: Baseline (LV GLS = − 11.6% and RV GLS = − 13.1%), Bottom: Follow-up (LV GLS = − 15.0% and RV GLS = − 16.5%)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Boxplots comparing Native T1 at baseline and 6 months after transplantation with controls
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Boxplots comparing left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LV GLS) at baseline and 6 months after transplantation with controls
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Analysis of individual cases of left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LV GLS) in kidney transplant (KT) patients at baseline and follow-up (n = 44)
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Relationship between changes in left ventricular global longitudinal strain (∆ LV GLS) with changes in a mass index (∆ LVMi), b ejection fraction (∆ LVEF), c global circumferential strain (∆ LV GCS) and d global radial strain (∆ LV GRS)
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Bland–Altman plot of LV GLS measurements
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Correlation between LV GLS measured by FT-CMR and tagging
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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