Precision Medicine in the Management of Heart Transplant Recipients

The main focus of the study, and the primary outcome measure, is the diagnosis of rejection based on the histopathological examination of myocardial biopsies. At the time of each biopsy procedure, or within the 5 days immediately preceding, enrolled patients will undergo specific non-invasive investigations, along with baseline clinical and laboratory evaluations.

Additional analyses will be performed on myocardial tissue samples obtained during biopsies conducted for clinical practice, including the analysis of the intramyocardial gene expression profile (nanostring and microarray), to identify molecular profiles specific to cellular or antibody-mediated rejection.

The results of these investigations will be correlated with the findings from histopathological and molecular analyses of the biopsies using artificial intelligence methods, in order to develop a non-invasive investigation algorithm that can predict the risk of rejection.

Similarly, these diagnostic investigations will be longitudinally related to the incidence of infection events, as defined above, and to the development of myocardial fibrosis diagnosed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

In a subsequent phase, biopsies will be reclassified through the examination of histopathological morphology using machine learning techniques. The result of the re-evaluation of the histological samples will be correlated with the diagnosis based on the intramyocardial gene expression and the predictiveness of the previously developed algorithm.

Inclusion criteria

• Age ≥ 18 years
• Have received an orthotopic heart transplant
• Clinical indication for performing a myocardial biopsy (either as part of standard monitoring or for suspected rejection)
• Obtaining informed consent

Exclusion criteria

• Severe complications in the post-operative phase that may limit the patient's short-term survival.