Chimerism testing (engraftment analysis) is performed for patients who have received a hematopoietic stem cell transplant. The test involves identifying the genetic profiles of the recipient and the donor and then evaluating the extent of mixture in the recipient’s blood or bone marrow. First, DNA is isolated from the recipient and potential donor before the transplant and analysis is performed to determine whether the genetic markers unique to the donor and the recipient have sufficient power to distinguish the donor from the recipient. Next, after the transplant takes place, the performance of the transplant engraftment is assessed by evaluating the donor versus recipient contribution of white blood cells in post-transplant blood or bone marrow specimens obtained from the recipient.
See testing details on the AZClinCore Website: https://azclincore.arizona.edu/clinical-testing/chimerism
