Cumulative Disorder of Myocardial Lipofuscin after Long-Term Heart Transplantation: A Study Based on Endomyocardial Biopsies

Introduction

Lipofuscin is a yellowish-brown, non-degradable cytoplasmic pigment composed of highly oxidized proteins, lipids, and metals. Lipofuscin accumulates over time in perennial post-mitotic cells such as cardiomyocytes and is also called “age pigment”.^–

Heart transplantation is an established treatment for patients with severe heart failure refractory to other forms of treatment. Its major long-term limitation is the development of cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), which is relatively difficult to diagnose and for which few effective treatment options exist.^6,7 In this context, it is worth mentioning a previous study relating the amount of lipofuscin in the myocardium of heart transplant patients to the development of CAV.

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