Faculty Collaboration Database

MRI complements standard assessment of right ventricular function after lung transplantation. Ann Thorac Surg 1995 Aug;60(2):268-71

Date

08/01/1995

Pubmed ID

7646085

DOI

10.1016/0003-4975(95)00365-r

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0029129387 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   33 Citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Changes in right ventricular mass and ejection fraction after single-lung transplantation for pulmonary hypertension are poorly understood.

METHODS: To complement functional data provided by echocardiography, radionuclide ventriculography, and right heart catheterization, magnetic resonance imaging was used to assess right ventricular function in 5 single-lung transplant recipients with preoperative pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular dysfunction (right ventricular ejection fraction, 0.21 +/- 0.09). The right and left ventricular mass, ejection fraction, and mass ratio (left ventricular mass/right ventricular mass) were calculated from the magnetic resonance images.

RESULTS: The mean pulmonary artery pressure fell from 72 +/- 18 to 21 +/- 8 mm Hg after transplantation. At 3 months after transplantation both the left ventricular and right ventricular ejection fractions approached normal values, as shown by both radionuclide ventriculography and magnetic resonance imaging, but the right ventricular mass remained abnormally high with slightly low mass ratios. By 1 year both the left ventricular and right ventricular masses had regressed to normal with near-normal mass ratios.

CONCLUSIONS: Right ventricular performance returns to nearly normal early after transplantation, but the right ventricular mass regresses over a more prolonged time. Cine magnetic resonance imaging provides a noninvasive means of assessing changes in right ventricular function and mass after lung transplantation.

Author List

Frist WH, Lorenz CH, Walker ES, Loyd JE, Stewart JR, Graham TP Jr, Pearlstein DP, Key SP, Merrill WH

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Child
Female
Humans
Hypertension, Pulmonary
Lung
Lung Transplantation
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Middle Aged
Stroke Volume
Ventricular Function, Right