HealthDay News reported about a simple blood test that can detect whether heart transplant patients are rejecting their donated heart. These patients have an average risk of 3 percent to 5 percent for moderate/severe rejection, and must be monitored for rejection for the rest of their lives. For decades, the heart-muscle biopsy was the most reliable method for detecting rejection. This test may reduce the need for invasive heart-muscle biopsies.
The study by New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center analyzed data from patients in the four-year Cardiac Allograft Rejection Gene Expression Observational Study (CARGO), conducted at eight U.S. transplant centers.
The study looked at a gene expression test called AlloMapT molecular expression testing, which provides information about 20 genes representing molecular pathways in white blood cells found to be associated with heart transplant rejection, as well as information about control genes.
The researchers found that the AlloMap test appeared able to distinguish heart transplant patients who were rejecting their new heart from patients who weren't. The study found that patients with a low AlloMap score had less than 1 percent chance of rejection.
New York-Presbyterian/Columbia will begin offering AlloMap testing to patients on Jan. 1, 2006.
Marie Godfrey, PhD
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