Blood tests for signs of organ rejection made available for young heart transplant patients
CareDx, a California-based healthcare company focused on transplant patients, has announced that its AlloSure Heart donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) test is now available for pediatric patients for the first time.
The AlloSure dd-cfDNA tests are non-invasive and help monitor patients for early warning signs of transplant rejection. AlloSure Heart has been available for heart transplant patients 15 years old and older since 2020. This latest update means that younger patients, including infants, can undergo the tests to ensure there are no complications.
“The availability of AlloSure dd-cfDNA for all pediatric heart transplant patients is a major development,” Brian Feingold, MD, medical director of pediatric heart transplantation at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, said in a statement. “Our goal is for every one of our patients, including our youngest heart transplant recipients, to thrive with their transplanted heart. With molecular surveillance we can monitor organ health while avoiding the inconvenience and discomfort of unnecessary biopsies. We consider the use of surveillance biopsies outside of the first two or three months after transplantation to be outdated now that AlloSure is available for every pediatric heart transplant recipient.”
According to one 2022 analysis led by Feingold, the AlloSure Heart dd-cfDNA tests helped lower the use of surveillance endomyocardial biopsies in pediatric patients by 81%.
CareDx also announced that its testing services are now available for patients who undergo simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplants.
“We are thrilled to introduce two new expanded indications of AlloSure, addressing critical needs in transplant patient care,” Robert N. Woodward, CareDx chief scientific officer, said in the same statement. “Until now, children under 15 who received a heart transplant could only be tested by exception, but now they can receive routine AlloSure Heart testing.”
Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.