Impact of intravascular ultrasound in understanding transplant coronary artery disease

Intravascular ultrasound imaging has been recognized as a sensitive tool to study early transplant vasculopathy lesions. An early examination performe d soon after transplantation allows one to study donor atherosclerosis. Fur ther, serial follow-up imaging with meticulous site matching provides impor tant information regarding the progression of donor atherosclerosis and the development of transplant vasculopathy lesions. This review highlights the contribution of intravascular imaging in understanding the transplant coro nary artery disease. This review also outlines various methodologies employ ed by different investigators, and stresses the strengths and weaknesses of these methodologies for correct interpretation as well as comparison of da ta from different studies.