Vascular rejection in heart transplant recipients

Antibody medicated (vascular) rejection has recently been described in heart transplantation. We report our experience with vascular rejection in a series of 62 patients who did not receive perioperative lymphocyte antibody therapy. Sixty-five rejections were reported, of which 58 (89%) were pure cellular; five (8%) had both cellular and vascular components, and two (3%) had only vascular rejection. Vascular rejection was very common in patients in whom hemodynamic compromise developed, and hemodynamic compromise was significantly more common in vascular than cellular rejection. Treatment for vascular rejection included plasmapheresis, intravenous methylprednisolone, and cyclophosphamide. Only one death occurred in this series, and that occurred in a patient with vascular rejection where the diagnosis and initiation of therapy were delayed. The role of vascular rejection in patients with hemodynamic compromise is discussed.