title: Handling and interpretation of heart transplant biopsies.
abstract: The biopsy material that is available for evaluation of the transplant heart is retrieved from an invasive biopsy procedure that is often small or suboptimal for evaluation. It is essential that the tissue is handled optimally from the time it is removed from the body to the time it is placed on the microscope stage to facilitate the best opportunity for an adequate diagnosis and to prevent the necessity for repeat costly and invasive procedures. Furthermore, the diagnostic information may be time sensitive for the treating clinician and mishandling the tissue or requiring a repeat biopsy will delay the start of treatment if the biopsy discloses actionable information. Herein we describe an optimized protocol for handling and interpreting heart transplant biopsies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 10833 Le Conte Avenue, CHS 13-145, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1732, USA.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Swanson
authors.forename: W Dean
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Wallace
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy / Q000379:methods*; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D058028:Research Report