Why the study?
Sensitization limits access to organs and prolongs wait times in heart transplant candidates, but its management is not yet standardized and current therapies lack consistent results.
This AHA scientific statement highlights the challenges of sensitization in heart transplantation and the need for standardized, effective management strategies.
Sensitization management lacks standardization in heart transplantation; leaves open optimal desensitization strategies and trial designs.
Sensitization, defined as the presence of circulating antibodies, presents challenges for heart transplant recipients and physicians. When present, sensitization can limit a transplantation candidate's access to organs, prolong wait time, and, in some cases, exclude the candidate from heart transplantation altogether. The management of sensitization is not yet standardized, and current therapies have not yielded consistent results. Although current strategies involve antibody suppression and removal with intravenous immunoglobulin, plasmapheresis, and antibody therapy, newer strategies with more specific targets are being investigated.
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Colvin et al. (2019) studied this question.
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