Humoral rejection in pediatric orthotopic heart transplantation.

Background: Pediatric heart transplant grafts may fail without evidence of cellular rejection or transplant coronary artery disease. The role of antibody-mediated humoral rejection (HR) in graft failure has not yet been described in the pediatric population.

Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 103 pediatric heart transplantations performed at our institution from July 1997 to June 2004.