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Updated: Oct 18, 2025

An Immunological Model for Heterotopic Heart and Cardiac Muscle Cell Transplantation in Rats
Published on: May 8, 2020
Adequate immune response after SARS-CoV-2 infection and single dose vaccination despite rapid heart transplantation
Sophiko Erbel-Khurtsidze1, Moritz Benjamin Immohr1, Payam Akhyari1
1Department of Cardiac Surgery, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Moorenstrasse 5, Duesseldorf, 40225, Germany.
Abstract:
Adequate immune response to vaccination remains a challenge in patients after solid organ transplantation. We report a case of a 61-year-old male patient who received a left ventricular assist device as a bridge to transplant therapy. Three months before transplantation, he suffered mild SARS-CoV-2 infection and was successfully discharged thereafter. Eight days before his successful heart transplantation, he received mRNA BNT 162b2 vaccination. Immediately after transplantation, we detected sufficient rise of nucleocapsid and spike antibodies despite immune suppression therapy. We suspect potential booster effects of the previous SARS-CoV-2 infection giving rise to adequate immune response following single vaccination.
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