IMPAIRED POLYMORPHONUCLEAR LEUKOCYTE MIGRATION AS A POSSIBLE MONITOR FOR THE RISK OF SEPTICEMIA IN IMMUNOSUPPRESSED TRANSPLANT PATIENTS

Due to immunosuppressive therapy, organ transplant patients suffer fro m an impaired host defence and are, therefore, threatened by infection s. A new method that measures polymorphonuclear leucocyte (PMN) migrat ion in whole blood was used for the estimation of an infection risk. S pontaneous migration of PMNs assessed by their percentage in whole blo od migrating into a membrane filter was markedly reduced in immunosupp ressed orthotopic heart transplantation patients who later developed s epticaemia. The PMN blood counts of these patients were within the nor mal range and are not therefore a useful indicator of reduced host res istance to pathogens. Blood PMN functional tests promise to be a bette r marker for determining immunodeficiency caused by over-immunosuppres sion.