Predictive value of gene expression profiling for long-term survival after heart transplantation.
Identifying patients at risk for impaired long-term survival after heart transplantation (HT) remains a clinical challenge. The aim of this analysis was to investigate whether the gene expression profiling test AlloMap® is related to long-term survival after HT.



46 patients who underwent HT between 2006 and 2007 who were originally included into the CARGO II trial at our institution were investigated. Patients were divided in two groups according to an increase or decrease of the AlloMap® score between 6 and 9months after HT. The primary endpoint of this study was long-term all-cause mortality.



23 patients showed an increase of the AlloMap® score between 6 and 9months after HT whereas the remaining 23 patients presented with a decrease of the score. After a median follow-up time of 8.1years (interquartile range 7.6-8.6), all-cause mortality was significantly elevated in patients with an AlloMap® increase compared with patients who showed a decrease of the score (log-rank p=0.005). A ratio of the AlloMap® at 9months to 6months of 1.02 or less was associated with a negative predictive value for all-cause mortality of 100%.



Dynamic changes of the AlloMap® score between 6 and 9months after HT were strongly related to all-cause long-term survival after HT. These results suggest that AlloMap® potentially displays a useful tool to estimate the patients' risk for long-term mortality.
Department for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Heart and Diabetes Center NRW, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany. Electronic address: BFujita@hdz-nrw.de.
Buntaro
B
Fujita
Department for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Heart and Diabetes Center NRW, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany.
Emir
E
Prashovikj
Department for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Heart and Diabetes Center NRW, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany.
Uwe
U
Schulz
Department for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Heart and Diabetes Center NRW, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany.
Jochen
J
Börgermann
Department for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Heart and Diabetes Center NRW, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany.
Jakub
J
Sunavsky
Department for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Heart and Diabetes Center NRW, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany.
Uwe
U
Fuchs
Department for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Heart and Diabetes Center NRW, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany.
Jan
J
Gummert
Department for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Heart and Diabetes Center NRW, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany.
Stephan
S
Ensminger
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015996:Survival Rate
AlloMap®; Gene expression profiling; Heart transplantation; Long-term mortality