title: ABO-incompatible heart transplantation: crossing the immunological barrier.
abstract: Due to the shortage of organ donors, heart transplantation cannot be offered to many infants with end-stage heart failure; this issue leads to mortality rates of 30-50% in patients in the paediatric age group awaiting operation. ABO-incompatible heart transplantation has been performed safely with no particular or invasive preparatory procedures other than plasma exchange during cardiopulmonary bypass for removing preformed antibodies, with no reports of hyperacute rejection. We report our first clinical experience of heart transplantation on a 2-month-old-infant (blood group O), diagnosed with intracardiac tumour, in which the donor was a 19-day-old newborn of blood group A. Sharing the know-how about ABO-incompatible heart transplantation in newborns and infants awaiting transplantation will help in decreasing mortality among this group of patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiological, Thoracic and Vascular Science, Cardiac Surgery Unit, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gambino
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Torregrossa
authors.forename: Emanuele
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cozzi
authors.forename: Annalisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Angelini
authors.forename: Giustina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Silvestro
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cerutti
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Feltrin
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Toscano
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: d'Agostino
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zanella
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Thiene
authors.forename: Gino
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gerosa
mesh_terms: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System / Q000276:immunology*; D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D001787:Blood Group Incompatibility / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000379:methods; D004452:Echocardiography; D005350:Fibroma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000276:immunology*; D006352:Heart Ventricles; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D010956:Plasmapheresis / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System