TY - JOUR
T1 - Thermal Rejection Assessment
T2 - New Strategies for Early Detection
AU - Filz von Reiterdank, Irina
AU - Jain, Rohil
AU - de Clermont-Tonnerre, Eloi
AU - Tchir, Alexandra
AU - Cetrulo, Curtis L
AU - Lellouch, Alexandre G
AU - Coert, J Henk
AU - Mink van der Molen, Aebele B
AU - Tessier, Shannon N
AU - Uygun, Korkut
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2025 Filz von Reiterdank, Jain, de Clermont-Tonnerre, Tchir, Cetrulo, Lellouch, Coert, Mink van der Molen, Tessier and Uygun.
PY - 2025/4/16
Y1 - 2025/4/16
N2 - Skin pigmentation can pose challenges for physicians to diagnose pathologies. In Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation (VCA), this increases the difficulty of diagnosing rejection by clinical observation, which could be improved by noninvasive monitoring, thereby completely avoiding or aiding in guiding location for invasive diagnostics. In this study, pigmented and non-pigmented allogeneic and non-pigmented syngeneic control transplant recipients underwent daily thermal assessment using infrared (IR) gun and forward-looking IR (FLIR) imaging of VCAs using a rodent partial hindlimb transplant model. Daily clinical assessment was performed, and biopsies were taken on postoperative day (POD) 1, 3, and 7. Clinical and histological assessments indicated signs of rejection on POD 3. In contrast, thermal assessment using the IR gun detected significant differences as early as POD 1, notably a decrease in temperature, when comp ared to syngeneic control transplants. This demonstrates the capability of thermal assessments to identify early signs of rejection before clinical symptoms become apparent. The findings suggest that thermal assessments can serve as a non-contact, objective adjunct tool for early detection of graft rejection, with consideration of skin pigmentation. This approach may reduce the need for invasive biopsies, thereby improving patient comfort and reducing potential complications associated with current diagnostic methods.
AB - Skin pigmentation can pose challenges for physicians to diagnose pathologies. In Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation (VCA), this increases the difficulty of diagnosing rejection by clinical observation, which could be improved by noninvasive monitoring, thereby completely avoiding or aiding in guiding location for invasive diagnostics. In this study, pigmented and non-pigmented allogeneic and non-pigmented syngeneic control transplant recipients underwent daily thermal assessment using infrared (IR) gun and forward-looking IR (FLIR) imaging of VCAs using a rodent partial hindlimb transplant model. Daily clinical assessment was performed, and biopsies were taken on postoperative day (POD) 1, 3, and 7. Clinical and histological assessments indicated signs of rejection on POD 3. In contrast, thermal assessment using the IR gun detected significant differences as early as POD 1, notably a decrease in temperature, when comp ared to syngeneic control transplants. This demonstrates the capability of thermal assessments to identify early signs of rejection before clinical symptoms become apparent. The findings suggest that thermal assessments can serve as a non-contact, objective adjunct tool for early detection of graft rejection, with consideration of skin pigmentation. This approach may reduce the need for invasive biopsies, thereby improving patient comfort and reducing potential complications associated with current diagnostic methods.
U2 - 10.3389/ti.2025.14108
DO - 10.3389/ti.2025.14108
M3 - Article
C2 - 40309263
SN - 0934-0874
VL - 38
JO - Transplant international : official journal of the European Society for Organ Transplantation
JF - Transplant international : official journal of the European Society for Organ Transplantation
M1 - 14108
ER -