*Purpose: To assess the frequency of surveillance biopsies in kidney transplant patients in transplant centers performing greater than 100 transplants per year, and to compare survey results with transplant data from the SRTR database to estimate the number of patients benefiting from surveillance biopsies each year.

*Methods: An independent email-based market research survey was developed and implemented by CTI Clinical Trial and Consulting Services (Covington, KY) with a focus on centers performing greater than 100 kidney transplants annually. The centers were organized in the following manner: <100 transplant/year, 100 to 200 transplant/year, >200 transplant per year.

*Results: 41 transplant centers responded to the survey. 19 of the 41 centers reported performing surveillance biopsies (46%). Of the 19 performing surveillance biopsies, 10 centers performed biopsies on all patients (53%) and 9 centers only performed biopsies on select patients (47%). Breakdown by center volume was: (i) 3 centers performing <100 transplants/year, 33% perform surveillance biopsies; (ii) 17 centers performing 100 to 200 transplants/year with 47% performing surveillance biopsies; and (iii) 21 centers performing >200 transplants/year with 48% performing surveillance biopsies. Additional data collected indicated that of the 22/41 centers that currently do not perform surveillance biopsies, 8/22 (36%) performed surveillance biopsies in the past and discontinued due primarily to cost of performing surveillance biopsies or inconvenience to the patient. Survey percentages in each category were used to estimate the overall percentage of first year kidney transplant patients each year that were being monitored by a surveillance biopsy. According to the 2016 SRTR transplant database, 71 transplant centers in the U.S. perform greater than 100 kidney transplants/year, representing 64% of the total number of kidney transplants in the U.S. Using our survey results, we estimate that 74% surveillance biopsies are performed in centers performing over 100 kidney transplant per year.

*Conclusions: Surveillance biopsies are performed on greater than 34% of all kidney transplant patients with the greatest number of surveillance biopsy utilization reported to be higher in centers performing over 100 kidney transplants per year. In 2016, 74% of all surveillance biopsies were reported in 71 centers performing over 100 kidney transplants per year.

« Back to 2019 American Transplant Congress