Many transplant centers routinely reject hearts if the donor’s blood test reveals elevated levels of troponin I, a protein found in heart muscle that enters the bloodstream when there is a heart attack or other heart muscle damage. Donors with previous heart disease are automatically excluded.
Heart transplantation is one of the greatest achievements in modern medicine and patients with advanced heart failure in whom survival is measured in weeks and months are offered the potential for survival of equal to or greater than 10 years with excellent quality of life.
Read more: Heart Transplantation Recipients Unaffected by Donor Troponin Levels
 |
| According to new research, a blood test that leads to donor hearts being rejected may not effectively predict whether a heart transplant will succeed or fail (Photo courtesy of the AMA). |
Source: labmedica
