| News From Transplant Week of May 20, 2001 / Vol. 2 No. 20 |
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Study: Cold Virus May Be Cause of Pediatric Heart Transplant Failure |
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A common cold virus appears to be a major cause of heart transplant failure in children, according to researchers at Baylor College of Medicine. The discovery, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, centers on a germ known as the adenovirus, which can cause colds, the common childhood ailment pinkeye, and more rarely myocarditis, an inflammation of heart tissues. The researchers studied 553 biopsies from 149 transplant recipients, ages newborn to 18 years old, over a five-year period. They found that among children who had an adenovirus infection of the new heart, the five-year survival rate was 62 percent. Among those without the infection, the survival rate was 96 percent. Dr. Jeffrey A. Towbin, a professor of pediatric cardiology at Baylor, said the finding shows why many children suffer heart transplant failure months and even years after surgery. "The infection isn't there at transplant, it wasn't there along the way and suddenly it's there. It's likely to be due to an upper respiratory illness," Towbin said. He said the
discovery "should lead to a change in diagnostic testing
and treatment. It could also improve long-term survival." Other Sources: New England Journal of Medicine, Baylor |
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