Kalya, Anantharam

AbstractCardiac allograft rejection and failure may require mechanical circulatory support as bridge‐to‐retransplantation. Prognosis in this patient group is poor and implantable ventricular assist devices have had limited success due to organ failure associated with the high dose immunosuppression required to treat ongoing rejection. We present a case from our institution and the world‐wide experience utilizing the SynCardia CardioWest Total Artificial Heart (TAH‐t; SynCardia Systems, Inc., Tucson, AZ, USA) for replacement of the failing graft, recovery of patient and end‐organ failure with ultimate bridge to retransplantation. We present our experience and review of world‐wide experience for use of TAH‐t in this type patient.

Antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) (humoral rejection) of cardiac allografts remains difficult to diagnose and treat. Interest in AMR of cardiac allografts has increased over the last decade as it has become apparent that untreated humoral rejection threatens graft and patient survival. An international and multidisciplinary consensus group has formulated guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of AMR and established that identification of circulating or donor-specific antibodies is not required and that asymptomatic AMR, that is, biopsy-proven AMR without cardiac dysfunction is a real entity with worsened prognosis. Strict criteria for the diagnosis of cardiac AMR have not been firmly established, although the diagnosis relies heavily on tissue pathological findings. Therapy remains largely empirical. We review an unfortunate experience with one of our patients and summarize recommended criteria for the diagnosis of AMR and potential treatment schemes with a focus on current limitations and the need for future research and innovation.