Jennifer Matthews: Candace Moose moves fast these days. Five years ago, a new heart gave her a new life. Since then, there's been no slowing her down.
Candace Moose: I swim on a regular basis at my local YMCA. I play tennis. I play golf ... Not very well.
Jennifer Matthews: But once every few months all this comes to a stop, like most heart transplant patients Candace goes back to the hospital for a biopsy to make sure her immune system isn't attacking her heart.
Dr. Mario Deng: The state of the art way of detecting rejection is by taking four to six little pieces out of the heart muscle by biopsies.
Jennifer Matthews: It's an invasive, risky, and uncomfortable procedure.
Candace Moose: The first needle prick hurts, and after that there's a great deal of pressure on your neck.
Jennifer Matthews: Surgeons thread a catheter to the heart's right ventricle, where tiny scissors cut off tissue samples. But now, a simple blood test promises to replace all this. Patients can't wait. And that's really all it takes. The AlloMap test analyzes a patient's genes to see if there's any damage to the heart. If patients test negative, they have less than a 1-percent chance of rejection. If they test positive, doctors can adjust their anti-rejection meds.
Dr. Mario Deng: The patients are excited about this. They perceive this as a tremendous advance in their quality of life.
Jennifer Matthews: And for Candace that means more time for the things she loves. This is Jennifer Matthews reporting.