title: Successful reversal of severe refractory cardiac allograft rejection by photopheresis.
abstract: We treated 4 patients with refractory International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation Grades IIIA to IV cardiac allograft rejection with extracorporeal photopheresis. Following treatment on 2 consecutive days, 3 patients demonstrated complete histologic reversal of rejection. The remaining patient improved more gradually, but manifested complete cessation of rejection following three 2-day treatments. We conclude that photopheresis is a safe and effective modality for the treatment of severe refractory cardiac allograft rejection and that these results support the use of photopheresis in this clinical setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lehrer
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Rook
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Tomaszewski
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: DeNofrio
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000628:therapy*; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017893:Photopheresis