A Descriptive Study of a New Mexico-Based Kidney-Allograft Biopsy Registry

Background: A kidney biopsy provides crucial information regarding allograft health. The diagnoses encountered on kidney allograft biopsies at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center have not been systematically studied. Additionally, the frequency of multiple pathologies in a single biopsy report is unknown. Therefore, we performed a retrospective review of the allograft biopsies to describe the frequency of diagnoses from this allograft biopsy registry. Methods: The kidney biopsy registry was established using natural language processing (NLP) to extract diagnoses from biopsy reports, covering the period from January 2002 to June 2019. We identified kidney allograft biopsies, described the frequency of diagnoses, and, for common diagnoses, explored the presence of other pathologies. Results were reported as n (%) or Median (IQR), as appropriate. Results: A total of 742 allograft biopsies were performed. The number of biopsies increased over the years (Fig. 1). The median biopsy age was 43 years (IQR 22–58). The most frequent diagnoses were acute T-cell mediated rejection (acute-TCMR), transplant glomerulopathy, and acute tubular necrosis (Fig. 2a). Acute tubular necrosis was the most common accompanying diagnosis in patients with acute TCMR and transplant glomerulopathy, respectively. Conclusion: We analyzed a large number of allograft biopsies using NLP and described the diagnoses encountered in this population.The number of biopsies performed each year.Population description.