Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Evaluation in Recipients of Hepatitis C Virus-Infected Donor Hearts

Hepatitis C Virus positive (HCV+) organ donors offer a viable strategy for expansion of the heart donor pool without an increased risk of recipient mortality. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) is an effective tool for graft surveillance in heart transplant (HT) recipients. However, there are no data comparing CMR findings in HT recipients based on donor HCV status. The aim of this propensity score matched case-control study was to evaluate baseline CMR characteristics of HCV+ HT recipients and HCV- HT recipients, as well as compare cardiac allograft structure, function, performance, and tissue characterization between groups. CMR normative values did not differ between groups in matched analysis. There were no significant differences in CMR-derived biventricular function, strain, LGE, or myocardial tissue characteristics by parametric mapping. This study suggests CMR can be a valuable tool for surveillance in HCV+ HT patients, and abnormalities on imaging should not be attributed to HCV infection.