Introduction: Donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) is a blood biomarker detecting graft injury with high negative predictive value. While non-invasive strategies for heart transplant (HTx) rejection surveillance are widely adopted in the United States with centralized testing, data on the feasibility of dd-cfDNA assay at the local level are lacking. Here, we report the first 6 months of experience with a local laboratory-run dd-cfDNA assay in the routine clinical surveillance setting.
Methods: Twenty-six HTx patients with stable graft function were transitioned from endomyocardial biopsy-based (EMB) to dd-cfDNA-led rejection surveillance using a commercially available next-generation sequencing-based assay.
Results: In the 90 samples analyzed, dd-cfDNA fraction remained continuously low in most patients, thus 88% of surveillance EMBs could be safely avoided. In the case of ≥.25% dd-cfDNA, EMB was performed. There was no missed rejection.
Conclusion: Our data show the feasibility to analyze dd-cfDNA at the local level and successful implementation of this non-invasive surveillance method into clinical practice, thus considerably reducing the frequency of invasive surveillance EMBs.
Keywords: allograft injury; donor-derived cell-free DNA; heart transplantation; local laboratory-run assay; next-generation sequencing; rejection.
© 2023 The Authors. Clinical Transplantation published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.