Table 1.
Patient characteristics at the time of biopsy and blood sample extraction.
| Non-rejection (n=15) | Rejection (n=45) | p-value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (all grades combined) (n=45) | Grade 1 R (n=15) | Grade 2 R (n=15) | Grade 3 R (n=15) | |||
| Age, years | 53 ± 12 | 50 ± 12 | 50 ± 12 | 51 ± 11 | 48 ± 14 | 0.757 |
| Male sex (%) | 80 | 93 | 93 | 100 | 87 | 0.309 |
| Indication for cardiac transplantation | ||||||
| Ischemic cardiomyopathy (%) | 20 | 41 | 57 | 33 | 33 | 0.213 |
| Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (%) | 60 | 41 | 29 | 33 | 60 | 0.168 |
| Other (%) | 20 | 18 | 14 | 33 | 7 | 0.290 |
| Time between transplantation and study enrolment, months | 5.6 ± 3.9 | 4.2 ± 3.6 | 5.4 ± 3.9 | 4.0 ± 3.8 | 3.3 ± 2.9 | 0.281 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 26 ± 5 | 23 ± 4 | 24 ± 4 | 21 ± 3 | 25 ± 4 | 0.105 |
| Hypertension (%) | 7 | 46 | 50 | 47 | 40 | 0.049 |
| Diabetes mellitus (%) | 27 | 50 | 71 | 33 | 47 | 0.077 |
| Dyslipemia (%) | 47 | 30 | 50 | 20 | 21 | 0.177 |
| Echo-Doppler study | ||||||
| Ejection fraction (%) | 64 ± 9 | 61 ± 6 | 57 ± 8 | 67 ± 6 | 69 ± 4 | 0.102 |
| LV end systolic diameter (mm) | 27 ± 4 | 27 ± 4 | 27 ± 4 | 28 ± 5 | 27 ± 3 | 0.945 |
| LV end diastolic diameter (mm) | 44 ± 4 | 44 ± 4 | 43 ± 4 | 45 ± 4 | 44 ± 3 | 0.853 |
| Hemodynamic parameters | ||||||
| Mean right atrial pressure (mm Hg) | 7.1 ± 3.7 | 6.8 ± 3.9 | 6.1 ± 5.0 | 7.5 ± 3.2 | 6.9 ± 3.1 | 0.818 |
| Systolic right ventricular pressure (mm Hg) | 33 ± 16 | 29 ± 16 | 34 ± 11 | 36 ± 8 | 37 ± 8 | 0.802 |
| Diastolic right ventricular pressure (mm Hg) | 7.3 ± 4.1 | 6.6 ± 3.7 | 5.8 ± 4.1 | 6.9 ± 3.3 | 7.6 ± 4.0 | 0.730 |
| Immunosuppressive therapy | ||||||
| Tacrolimus (%) | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | — |
| Mycophenolic acid (%) | 100 | 98 | 100 | 93 | 100 | 0.394 |
| Steroids (%) | 100 | 98 | 100 | 93 | 100 | 0.394 |
| Neutrophils (thousands/mm3) | 4.5 ± 2.7 | 5.6 ± 4.6 | 4.6 ± 4.0 | 6.1 ± 4.8 | 6.3 ± 5.2 | 0.550 |
| Leukocytes (thousands/mm3) | 6.6 ± 2.8 | 8.1 ± 4.7 | 6.6 ± 3.8 | 8.4 ± 5.0 | 9.3 ± 5.2 | 0.272 |
| Lymphocytes (thousands/mm3) | 1.4 ± 0.45 | 1.7 ± 0.8 | 1.4 ± 0.4 | 1.5 ± 0.6 | 2.2 ± 1.1 | 0.003 |
| Hemoglobin (mg/dL) | 11.8 ± 2.3 | 12.3 ± 1.8 | 12.5 ± 1.2 | 12.5 ± 2.0 | 11.8 ± 2.2 | 0.658 |
| Hematocrit (%) | 37 ± 7 | 38 ± 5 | 39 ± 3 | 39 ± 6 | 37 ± 6 | 0.615 |
| NT-proBNP (pg/mL) | 200 ± 85 | 1441 ± 3449 | 2267 ± 5721 | 715 ± 519 | 1266 ± 1246 | 0.001 |
| Troponin T (ng/L) | 13 ± 7 | 60 ± 98 | 73 ± 134 | 62 ± 57 | 37 ± 26 | 0.049 |
LV, left ventricular; NT-proBNP, N-terminal fragment of B-type natriuretic peptide.