Antibody-mediated rejection 16 years post-cardiac transplantation: a case report of an uncommon late presentation in a middle-aged woman.

ABSTRACT: Very late antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) in heart transplant patients (over 10 years post-transplant) is very rare. It is associated with high mortality, graft dysfunction, and fulminant coronary artery vasculopathy (CAV) and should remain in the differential for patients presenting with late graft dysfunction. A 57-year-old woman 16 years of post-heart transplant with a previously unremarkable post-transplant course including protocol driven biopsies showing no rejection and a recent unremarkable screening nuclear stress test presented to our institution with clinical heart failure. Echocardiogram revealed graft dysfunction and endomyocardial biopsy showed no signs of cellular rejection, but evidence of AMR. The patient was treated with steroid and immunotherapy with clinical improveme

SUBMITTER: Miller C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6764549 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature