Optimizing Noninvasive Approaches to Rejection Surveillance in Cardiac Allograft Recipients

Optimizing immune suppression so as to balance the risk of antibody-mediated and cellular rejection vs. the risk of opportunistic infections is one of the primary management goals in cardiac transplant recipients. Routine surveillance transcatheter endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) remains a key element of achieving this goal for most pediatric cardiac programs despite years of effort pursuing alternative methods. The cost, risk, and clinical burden of this procedure are well documented. The risk of serious adverse events during EMB for pediatric transplant recipients has been evaluated in a multicenter study of 2655 biopsies in 744 patients and was found to be relatively low, with 3.3% of pediatric heart transplant recipients experiencing an adverse event and 1.1% associated with a serious adverse event.
Source: Progress in Pediatric Cardiology - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Review Source Type: research