Organ Transplant Diagnostic Screen for Chronic Tissue Rejection
At the end of 2003 there were almost 160,000 people living in the United States with transplanted organs. There are an additional 25,000 organ transplants each year in the U.S., with a growing number still on the waiting list to receive an organ.
In the six months following a transplant, a patient undergoes at least four biopsies, with subsequent biopsies at regular intervals for the remainder of their lives. These diagnostic procedures are designed for detection of life-threatening organ rejection. However, this microscopic diagnosis is imperfect in that it relies on non-specific changes in the organ, therefore the diagnosis is subjective and not definitive. Based on the recent discovery of tertiary lymphoid organs in tissue undergoing rejection, a less invasive diagnostic test has been developed to more objectively confirm transplants undergoing chronic rejection.
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