We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us

Download Mobile App




Heart Transplantation Recipients Unaffected by Donor Troponin Levels

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 14 Jul 2016
Many transplant centers routinely reject hearts if the donor’s blood test reveals elevated levels of troponin I, a protein found in heart muscle that enters the bloodstream when there is a heart attack or other heart muscle damage. More...
Donors with previous heart disease are automatically excluded.

Heart transplantation is one of the greatest achievements in modern medicine and patients with advanced heart failure in whom survival is measured in weeks and months are offered the potential for survival of equal to or greater than 10 years with excellent quality of life.

Cardiologist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Bronx, NY, USA) analyzed all adult heart transplant recipients at least 18 years of age, who received their transplants between January 1, 2007, and September 30, 2014. The study period coincides with the regular reporting of donor troponin levels by the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS). Of the 15,247 adult heart transplants performed in the USA from January 2007 to September 2014, 10 943 (71.8%) met all the inclusion/exclusion criteria and formed the final study cohort. There were three clinically meaningful donor troponin I groups: less than 1 ng/mL, 1 to 10 ng/mL, and more than10 ng/mL and compared mortality at 30 days, one year, three years, and five years of follow-up, primary graft failure (PGF) at 30 days, and cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) of more than five years of follow-up.

The team set out to determine whether there are any differences in outcomes for patients who received a heart from a donor with high troponin I levels. At 30 days, one year, three years, and five years after heart transplantation, the scientists found no significant differences in survival between recipients whose donors had high troponin I levels and those whose levels were normal. There was also no association between donor troponin I levels and risk of recipient death one year after transplantation. Additionally, donor troponin I levels made no difference to recipients' incidence of primary graft failure, the loss of pumping action that occurs within 30 days of transplantation, and cardiac allograft vasculopathy, a form of heart disease that can limit long-term survival following heart transplantation.

Snehal R. Patel, MD, an assistant professor of medicine and the senior author of the study, said, “A lot of focus has been on finding ways to sign up more people as organ donors, but there is also a problem in that only an average of one in three donor hearts are placed. Our study shows that transplant centers should not exclude donor hearts based solely on elevated troponin I if the organ is otherwise suitable. At our institution it has already changed how we evaluate donors, and I think this data will lead to changes nationwide.” The study was published on June 21, 2016, in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure.

Related Links:
Albert Einstein College of Medicine


Gold Member
Quantitative POC Immunoassay Analyzer
EASY READER+
Portable Electronic Pipette
Mini 96
Rapid Molecular Testing Device
FlashDetect Flash10
Sperm Quality Analyis Kit
QwikCheck Beads Precision and Linearity Kit
Read the full article by registering today, it's FREE! It's Free!
Register now for FREE to LabMedica.com and get access to news and events that shape the world of Clinical Laboratory Medicine.
  • Free digital version edition of LabMedica International sent by email on regular basis
  • Free print version of LabMedica International magazine (available only outside USA and Canada).
  • Free and unlimited access to back issues of LabMedica International in digital format
  • Free LabMedica International Newsletter sent every week containing the latest news
  • Free breaking news sent via email
  • Free access to Events Calendar
  • Free access to LinkXpress new product services
  • REGISTRATION IS FREE AND EASY!
Click here to Register








Channels

Hematology

view channel
Image: New evidence shows viscoelastic testing can improve assessment of blood clotting during postpartum hemorrhage (Photo courtesy of 123RF)

Viscoelastic Testing Could Improve Treatment of Maternal Hemorrhage

Postpartum hemorrhage, severe bleeding after childbirth, remains one of the leading causes of maternal mortality worldwide, yet many of these deaths are preventable. Standard care can be hindered by delays... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: When assessing the same lung biopsy sample, research shows that only 18% of pathologists will agree on a TCMR diagnosis (Photo courtesy of Thermo Fisher)

Molecular Microscope Diagnostic System Assesses Lung Transplant Rejection

Lung transplant recipients face a significant risk of rejection and often require routine biopsies to monitor graft health, yet assessing the same biopsy sample can be highly inconsistent among pathologists.... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.