INTRODUCTION: Patients with stage 5 chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, considering left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) an independent risk for cardiovascular events and death. Kidney transplantation is associated with reduction in cardiovascular risk and regression of LVH in echocardiographic studies, however, the left ventricular mass is overestimated by echocardiogram exams in CKD patients. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI), on the other hand, provides more detailed, volume-independent, measurement of cardiac structure, even in pacients with stage 5 CKD. Recent technique, Native T1 Mapping reflects myocardial disease involving the myocyte and interstitium without use of contrast agents. It presents ability to detect the presence, pattern and extent of myocardial fibrosis in patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. There is no study, however, evaluating the cardiac changes of renal transplant recipients (RTR) with Native T1 technique. It is supposed that kidney transplantation can promote the reduction of myocardial T1. It is intended to investigate, with this feature, if there is enhacement of cardiac status after kidney transplantation. And if so, whether it is due to improvement in intravascular volume or in myocyte and interstitium.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate myocardial native T1 changes in RTR 6 months after kidney transplantation.

METHODS: This is a single center prospective cohort study. Eleven patients older than 18 years that received a deceased kidney transplantation were enrolled from March 2015 to April 2016. All of them underwent CMRI on two occasions: the first performed in the first month, and the second 6 months after transplantation.

RESULTS: There was a significant reduction in Native T1 values, with mean value at 1 month of 1351 ms (± 51.64) compared to 1302 ms (± 51.59) after six months (p=0.027). There was a positive correlation between Native T1 and left ventricular mass index (LVMi), Pearson's correlation=0.43, p=0.046. No differences were found in LVMi, LV ejection fraction, LV end diastolic volume index, interventricular septum or LV posterior wall.

CONCLUSION: A significant reduction in Native T1 was found in RTR after 6 months of transplantation, even in this small sample. Kidney transplantation seems to enhance cardiac status by improving myocyte and interstitium.

CITATION INFORMATION: Contti M, Morales-Buenrostro L, Nga H, Garcia P, Barbosa M, Takase H, da Silva M, Moyses A. Myocardial Improvement Six Months After Kidney Transplantation: Non-Contrast Cardiac Resonance Study. Am J Transplant. 2017;17 (suppl 3).

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