UTILITY OF RITUXAN FOR STABLE DEPLETION OF ANTI-HLA ANTIBODIES IN A HIGHLY SENSITIZED PEDIATRIC HEART TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT

摘要

Aim: Infants with congenital heart defects become highly sensitized after blood transfusion and surgical repair of their heart defect. We examined whether IVIG plus rituximab could stably reduce anti-HLA antibody levels thereby facilitating successful transplantation in a highly sensitized 11-month-old heart transplant candidate. Methods: The patient received an anti-humoral regimen consisting of 2 cycles of IVIG at 2gm/kg/dose and three doses of rituximab at 375mg/m~2/dose which were initiated seven months prior to transplant (Table 1). Anti-HLA antibodies were evaluated using Luminex single antigen bead assays.