Echocardiographic Predictors of Acute Cellular Rejection in Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients

Background/Purpose Surveillance for acute cellular rejection (ACR) among pediatric heart transplant recipients largely relies on invasive endomyocardial biopsy. Echocardiography has the potential for such evaluation but has yet been proven to be as reliable as invasive measures. This study investigates the accuracy of common echocardiographic right and left heart indices for the detection of biopsy proven ACR and their ability to serve as prognostic indicators for long-term graft integrity. Methods This retrospective observational study involved review of medical records of all patients with biopsy proven acute cellular rejection. Determination of ACR was …