Carnegie Mellon Develops Non-invasive Technique To Detect Transplant Rejection at Cellular Level

Scientists have developed a promising tool that uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to track immune cells as they infiltrate a transplanted heart in the early stages of organ rejection. This pre-clinical advance ultimately could provide a noninvasive way to detect transplant rejection in patients. "Successful translation of this work to the clinic ultimately will reduce the number of biopsy procedures and should greatly improve the quality of life for cardiac transplant patients, especially children. Perhaps most importantly this advance could prevent transplant rejection." Transplant patients face a lifetime of immunosuppressive therapy and the risk of losing the new organ due to rejection. Physicians typically monitor patients for organ rejection following a heart transplant by performing frequent heart biopsies for the first year.