Beyond the Biopsy: Monitoring Immune Status in Kidney Recipients

Improved long-term kidney allograft survival is largely related to better outcomes at 12 months, in association with declining acute rejection rates and more efficacious immunosuppression. Finding the right balance between under- and overimmunosuppression or rejection versus immunosuppression toxicity remains one of transplant’s holy grails. In the absence of precise measures of immunosuppression burden, transplant clinicians rely on nonspecific, noninvasive tests and kidney allograft biopsy generally performed for cause. This review appraises recent advances of conventional monitoring strategies and critically examines the plethora of emerging tests utilizing tissue, urine, and blood samples to improve upon the diagnostic precision of allograft surveillance.