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CompletedNCT03477383BIODRAFTUpdated May 2, 2022

A New Biomarker for the Non-invasive Diagnosis of Rejection After Heart Transplantation

An observational study in Heart Transplant Rejection, sponsored by Vastra Gotaland Region. Completed at 4 sites in Sweden. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-05-02.

Primary conditionnone(registry's first term: Disease)No conditionIs this wrong?Disease describes something many studies share rather than a condition a study is about. The study names no condition we can place it under, so it is not compared with other studies by condition.

Sponsored by Vastra Gotaland Region · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
134
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study is a prospective, observational multi-center cohort study. The study will consist of patients undergoing heart transplantation. The main purpose is to test a new biomarker for rejection against the gold-standard, the endomyocardial biopsy (EMB). 80 patients will be included, both children and adults.

Read the detailed description

The primary objective is a comparison of an the established, invasive diagnostic test, the endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) against a new, non-invasive test. The new test is the measurement of donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) circulating in the blood stream of the recipient, quantified by droplet digital PCR (polymerase-chain reaction) after targeted multiplex preamplification. Sensitivity is calculated with EMB as the gold standard. The patients will be followed during one year post-transplantation with simultaneous blood samples and EMB. The patients will further be followed clinically for 5 years. A suitable cut-off for the ratio of dd-cfDNA will be calculated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.

Secondary objectives are description of patient outcomes with respect to organ function, quality of life and adverse events.

Secondary objectives are the calculation of the costs related to the transplantation process as well as to the follow-up with EMB. A simulation will be done with respect to possible savings achieved if the new biomarker could be implemented.

The study consists of two cohorts: all adult recipients of heart transplantation at Sahlgrenska University Hospital (one of two center conducting heart transplantation in Sweden): regional study. The other cohort consists of all children undergoing heart transplantation in Sweden:national study. Patients will undergo transplantation at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg as well as at Skåne University Hospital in Lund. Follow-up with blood samples and EMB of these patients will be in Gothenburg, Lund and at Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm.

02

Conditions studied

  • Heart Transplant Rejection

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Keywords

  • diagnosis
  • economics
  • cell-free DNA
  • digital droplet PCR
  • heart failure
03

In context

Lead sponsor

Vastra Gotaland Region is the lead sponsor of 275 studies on the registry; 109 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
Child (0–17), Adult (18–64), Older adult (65+)
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

All patients on waiting list for heart transplantion at the participating centers

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  1. Patient on waiting list for heart transplantation
  2. Signed

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Follow-up outside Sweden
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(1)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

05

Study design

Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
134 participants (actual)
Patient registry
No
Biospecimen retention
Samples with dna

Groups and cohorts

  • Adult patients

    Adult patients (18 years or older) undergoing heart transplantation

    Diagnostic Test: donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA)

  • Pediatric patients

    Pediatric patients (0-17 years) undergoing heart transplantation

    Diagnostic Test: donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA)

Interventions

  • Diagnostic testdonor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA)

    Measurement of dd-cfDNA and comparison against grade of rejection as measured by endomyocardial biopsy, taken simultaneously

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Comparison of donor-derived cell-free DNA and endomyocardial biopsy with respect to rejection

    Measurement of both fraction of donor-derived cell-free DNA of all cell-free DNA (derived from recipient and donor) as well as the absolute number of copies per ml plasma derived from the donor. Comparison is made with simultaneously obtained endomyocardial biopsies that are graded with respect to rejection, according to the official guidelines provided by the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation.

    Time frame: 3 years

Secondary outcomes

  1. Cost analysis 1

    Costs of heart transplantation during the first year post-transplantation

    Time frame: 5 years

  2. Rejection

    Cumulative incidence of rejection (according to the biopsy grading system provided by the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation)

    Time frame: 5 years

  3. Graft-vasculopathy

    Cumulative incidence of graft-vasculopathy

    Time frame: 5 years

  4. Overweight

    Prevalence of overweight (BMI \>25) and obesity (BMI\>30)

    Time frame: 5 years

  5. Quality of life

    Health-related quality of life as measured by EQ5D

    Time frame: 5 years

  6. Survival

    Survival

    Time frame: 5 years

  7. Re-transplantation

    Proportion of patients who have undergone re-transplantation

    Time frame: 5 years

  8. GFR (glomerular filtration rate)

    Renal function evaluated by calculated and measured GFR (Iohexol or Cr-Clearance)

    Time frame: 1 year

  9. GFR (glomerular filtration rate)

    Renal function evaluated by calculated and measured GFR (Iohexol or Cr-Clearance)

    Time frame: 3 years

  10. GFR (glomerular filtration rate)

    Renal function evaluated by calculated and measured GFR (Iohexol or Cr-Clearance)

    Time frame: 5 years

  11. Infections

    Cumulative incidence of infections requiring hospital admission

    Time frame: 5 years

  12. Circulatory support to transplantation

    Proportion of patients undergoing heart transplantation from a ventricular assist device or extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) or from mechanical ventilation.

    Time frame: 5 years

  13. Immunization status

    Impact of pre-transplantation immunization status on primary and secondary outcomes

    Time frame: 5 years

  14. Malignancy

    Cumulative incidence of malignancy (post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorder PTLD and others)

    Time frame: 3 years

  15. Malignancy

    Cumulative incidence of malignancy (PTLD and others)

    Time frame: 5 years

  16. Prior cardiac surgery

    Impact of prior cardiac surgery on other outcomes

    Time frame: 5 years

  17. Neonatal cardiac surgery

    Impact of neonatal (first 4 weeks of life) cardiac surgery on other outcomes

    Time frame: 5 years

  18. Donor cardiac arrest

    Correlation between circulatory arrest in the donor and cardiac function

    Time frame: 5 years

  19. Donor cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) impact

    Impact of CPR of the donor on the incidence of assumed early rejection

    Time frame: 3 years

  20. Initial immunosuppression

    Correlation between initial immunosuppression and the incidence of rejection

    Time frame: 5 years

  21. Initial immunosuppression and malignancy

    Correlation between type of initial immunosuppression and incidence of malignancy

    Time frame: 5 years

  22. Immunosuppression and adverse effects

    Correlation of time points with over- or under-immunosuppression (as measured by blood levels of immunosuppressive drugs and comparison with desired levels) and the incidence of severe infection, renal function decline and malignancy

    Time frame: 5 years

  23. Immunosuppression and rejection

    Correlation of time points with over- or under-immunosuppression (as measured by blood levels of immunosuppressive drugs and comparison with desired levels) with rejection events

    Time frame: 5 years

  24. Ischemia time

    Correlation between ischemic graft time and cardiac function as measured by echocardiography

    Time frame: 5 years

  25. Blood products and adverse events

    Correlation between the number of blood products (red blood cells, thrombocytes, plasma) given after transplantation and the incidence of adverse effects

    Time frame: 5 years

  26. Survival

    Survival

    Time frame: 3 years

07

Study locations

4 sites
  • Transplantation Center, Sahlgrenska University Hospital
    Gothenburg, 41234, Sweden
  • Pediatric Heart Center, The Queen Silvia Children's Hospital, Sahlgrenska University Hospital
    Gothenburg, 41685, Sweden
  • Pediatric Heart Center, Skåne University Hospital
    Lund, 22241, Sweden
  • Pediatric Heart Center, Karolinska University Hospital
    Stockholm, 17176, Sweden
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided — Not decided yet.

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Ran from Mar 2016 to primary completion in Dec 2021, 69 months.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Mar 15, 2018
First posted
Mar 26, 2018
StartActual
Mar 1, 2016
Primary completionActual
Dec 31, 2021
CompletionActual
Dec 31, 2021
Last update
May 2, 2022
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 2, 2022, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03477383
Collaborators
Lund University Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Mar 26, 2018
Start date
Mar 1, 2016
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2021
Completion
Dec 31, 2021
Last update
May 2, 2022

Study contacts

Jan Sunnegårdh, MD, PhD
principal investigator · Pediatric Heart Center, The Queen Silvia Children's Hospital, Sahlgrenska University Hospital

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Oct 2021. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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