Lung transplant patient spotted rejection using donor skin graft

A lung transplant patient noticed a purple rash on a donor skin patch three months after surgery; a biopsy confirmed mild rejection and he received steroid treatment, and the Sentinel trial is testing whether such patches provide an earlier warning of organ rejection.

A patient who received a lung transplant reported that a donor skin patch showed a purple rash three months after surgery, and a biopsy confirmed mild rejection that was treated with steroids. The skin patch is grafted onto the forearm at the time of transplant as part of the Sentinel trial, which aims to act as a visible "window" to detect rejection earlier. The trial is ongoing and scheduled to run until 2027 while recruiting patients at multiple UK centres. What is known: - The patient, Darren White, had a lung transplant in late 2024 and noticed a purple rash on the donor skin patch three months afterwards. - A biopsy of the patch indicated mild rejection and he was treated with steroids; he is reported to be doing well more than a year after the transplant. - The Sentinel trial has given donor skin patches (about 10cm by 3cm) to a small number of lung transplant recipients so far and is testing whether visible skin changes provide an earlier warning of organ rejection. - The trial is set to recruit up to 152 patients at five centres through 2027, and donor families must provide additional consent for skin grafts via NHS Blood and Transplant. Summary: The report describes a case in which a visible change on a donor skin patch led to diagnosis and treatment of mild lung rejection, and investigators say the patches could serve as an early warning system. The Sentinel trial will continue through 2027 to collect more data and determine whether this approach reliably detects rejection earlier than current methods.