Predictive value of non-invasive common carotid artery elasticity in heart recipients

Abstract

Objective: to study the predictive value of the local noninvasive elasticity index of the common carotid artery (CCA) wall in heart transplant recipients. Materials and methods. The study included 101 heart recipients. All study subjects underwent ultrasound examination of carotid arteries with assessment of the damping function of arteries and measurement of local and regional indicators of elastic properties of the CCA. The vascular wall elasticity index (iCOMPL) of the CCA was calculated according to the formula using the CCA diameters in systole and diastole and measurements of systolic and diastolic blood pressure. All-cause death, heart retransplantation, and clinically significant heart transplant coronary artery disease were evaluated as combined endpoints (adverse outcomes).Results. In heart recipients without morphological and immunohistochemical signs of heart graft rejection, detection of relatively low iCOMPL of CCA is a predictor of earlier development of adverse events (p = 0.03). Conclusion. iCOMPL of the CCA is a noninvasive and easily reproducible predictor of adverse out- comes in the long-term period after heart transplantation and can be used in clinical practice for the purpose of risk stratification in heart recipients.

Keywords

• vascular wall elasticity
• common carotid artery
• heart transplantation
• recipients