Abstract

WOLFF, SEBASTIÁN et al. Efficacy and Safety of Echocardiographic Guidance for Post-Transplant Endomyocardial Biopsy Sampling. Rev. argent. cardiol. [online]. 2018, vol.86, n.6, pp.40-46. ISSN 1850-3748.

Background: Endomyocardial biopsy is a very useful procedure to assess acute rejection in transplant patientis, but it can cause several complications.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of echocardiography as a guide for endomyo-cardial biopsy sampling.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of transplant patientis undergoing endomyocardial biopsies was carried out between No-vember 2004 and November 2016. Demographic data and complications were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Resultis: A total of 200 patientis underwent 2,665 endomyocardial biopsies, with an average of 13 procedures per patient. Complications occurred in 5 patientis: 2 pneumothorax (0.1%) and 3 transient alterations in the electrocardiogram (0.1%), and vascular access could not be achieved in 25 patientis (0.9%). No patient died during the procedure or required emergency surgery to treat the complications. Conclusion: Endomyocardial biopsy guided by echocardiography is a safe procedure with a low rate of complications.

Keywords : Heart Transplantation - Biopsy - Echocardiography.

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