EXTRACORPOREAL PHOTOCHEMOTHERAPY FOR THE TREATMENT OF ORGAN TRANSPLANT REJECTION

Extracorporeal photochemotherapy is a recently developed immunomodulat or treatment against heart and lung graft rejection. The recipient's m ononuclear cells are screened and irradiated with UV-A in the presence of 8-methoxy-psoralene (8-MOP), then reinjected. We treated 4 patient s who had begun to reject their heart and/or lung grafts, with this te chnique, using one session per week for 4 weeks, followed by one sessi on every 2 weeks for 2 months, then one session per month. In all case s, extracorporeal photochemotherapy appeared to improve the clinical a nd biological status of these patients. Episodes of rejection which co uld not be reversed with immunosuppressor treatment alone were control led.