Impaired coronary flow reserve by contrast-enhanced transthoracic echocardiography predicts cardiac allograft vasculopathy

Abstract

Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) represents a major cause of morbidity and mortality in heart transplantation (HT). The evaluation of coronary flow reserve (CFR) provides valuable information on the status of coronary vessels. Invasive studies have suggested progressive CFR impairment in HT, although its correlation with CAV is controversial. We assessed the potential role of noninvasive CFR evaluation as predictor of CAV.