With the Apomate kit for imaging apoptosis, physicians will be able to determine if transplanted organs are on the verge of rejection, according to the developer of the work-in-progress radiopharmaceutical.
North American Scientific of Chatsworth, CA, and its Theseus Imaging subsidiary announced January 13 that Apomate successfully passed the first stage of an ongoing clinical study. The imaging agent, which tracks the biochemical changes associated with organ rejection, was tested at over 3,500 hospitals.
Using standard nuclear medicine techniques, Apomate was able to assess the adequacy of immunosupression medication in cardiac transplant patients. As a result, physicians did not have to perform cardiac catheterization and endomyocardial biopsy. Currently, obtaining rejection information can require up to 15 catheterization procedures for the first year after transplant.
A noninvasive imaging agent such as Apomate could eventually replace multiple catheterization procedures and reduce treatment costs, said Dr. Allan Green, president of Theseus Imaging.
The demonstration for imaging cardiac transplant rejects was developed by doctors at Stanford University in Stanford, CA, and the University of Washington in Seattle. Theseus, which merged with North American Scientific in 1999, has licensed the technology from those institutions.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
January 14, 2000
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