Blood Test May Reduce Biopsies After Transplant

Studies have shown that a new blood test, called Allomap, may be the new wave of the future in detecting rejection in patients who have received heart transplants.  Currently, the most common way of monitoring for rejection is by biopsy.  In order to biopsy tissue from the heart, a tube is inserted into a vein in the neck and threaded to the heart to pick up tiny pieces of tissues that can be tested.  Not only is this procedure painful for the patient but it is also very expensive.  Each biopsy costs between $4,000 and $5,000, while each blood test only costs around $3,000.  The Allomap, which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, work by analyzing the activity level of 11 genes and computing a score that indicated the likelihood that rejection is occurring.  A new way of detecting rejection has in demand for quite awhile, because nearly a one-quarter of all transplant recipients experience rejection episodes that require treatment within the first year after surgery.  Although patients use immune-supressing drugs to try to ward off rejection, they are not always effective, and in some cases, rejection can be fatal.  Allomap blood tests may be the best way to recognize rejection early and be able to treat it with medication right away, giving the patient valuable time.

 

This article interested me so much because it relates to our device design project.  Although many of our designs were extremely biocompatible, they are also not able to be produced currently, so transplant is still the best way to save a patient’s life.  Because some transplant centers perform biopsies as frequently as once a week after surgery, the Allomap may save thousands of people from having to experience hundreds of painful procedures.  The money saved by avoiding biopsy would also be great in a health care system that seems to be running out of money.  

Brittany Guth

VTPP 435-501

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/business/23blood.html?ref=research