Key result
Novel molecular diagnostics show promise as noninvasive alternatives to biopsy for detecting heart transplant rejection.
Why the study?
Cardiac allograft rejection causes significant morbidity and mortality, but standard-of-care endomyocardial biopsy has diagnostic limitations and serious procedural complications.
Do molecular diagnostics improve the detection of transplant rejection compared to endomyocardial biopsy in heart transplant recipients?
Do molecular diagnostics improve the detection of transplant rejection compared to endomyocardial biopsy in heart transplant recipients?
Molecular diagnostics offer a potential non-invasive alternative to endomyocardial biopsy for monitoring cardiac allograft rejection.
May support noninvasive rejection monitoring; leaves open prospective validation before clinical adoption.
Despite the overall success of heart transplantation as a definitive treatment for endstage heart failure, cardiac allograft rejection remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Endomyocardial biopsy has been the standard of care for rejection monitoring, but is associated with several diagnostic limitations and serious procedural complications. The use of molecular diagnostics has emerged over the past decade as a tool to potentially circumvent some of these limitations. We present an update on novel molecular approaches to detecting transplant rejection, focusing on 4 categories: microarray technology, gene expression profiling, cell-free DNA and microRNA.
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Benck et al. (2021) conducted a review in Heart transplant rejection. Molecular diagnostics (microarray, GEP, cell-free DNA, microRNA) vs. Endomyocardial biopsy was evaluated. Novel molecular diagnostics, including microarray, gene expression profiling, cell-free DNA, and microRNA, offer promising noninvasive alternatives to biopsy for detecting heart transplant rejection.
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