• Jason L Vassy, Kurt D Christensen, Erica F Schonman, Carrie L Blout, Jill O Robinson, Joel B Krier, Pamela M Diamond, Matthew Lebo, Kalotina Machini, Danielle R Azzariti, Dmitry Dukhovny, David W Bates, Calum A MacRae, Michael F Murray, Heidi L Rehm, Amy L McGuire, Robert C Green, and MedSeq Project.
• From VA Boston Healthcare System, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Partners HealthCare Personalized Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts; Baylor College of Medicine and UTHealth School of Public Health, Houston, Texas; Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pennsylvania.
• Ann. Intern. Med. 2017 Aug 1; 167 (3): 159169159-169.

BackgroundWhole-genome sequencing (WGS) in asymptomatic adults might prevent disease but increase health care use without clinical value.ObjectiveTo describe the effect on clinical care and outcomes of adding WGS to standardized family history assessment in primary care.DesignPilot randomized trial. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01736566).SettingAcademic primary care practices.Participants9 primary care physicians (PCPs) and 100 generally healthy patients recruited at ages 40 to 65 years.InterventionPatients were randomly assigned to receive a family history report alone (FH group) or in combination with an interpreted WGS report (FH + WGS group), which included monogenic disease risk (MDR) results (associated with Mendelian disorders), carrier variants, pharmacogenomic associations, and polygenic risk estimates for cardiometabolic traits. Each patient met with his or her PCP to discuss the report.MeasurementsClinical outcomes and health care use through 6 months were obtained from medical records and audio-recorded discussions between PCPs and patients. Patients' health behavior changes were surveyed 6 months after receiving results. A panel of clinician-geneticists rated the appropriateness of how PCPs managed MDR results.ResultsMean age was 55 years; 58% of patients were female. Eleven FH + WGS patients (22% [95% CI, 12% to 36%]) had new MDR results. Only 2 (4% [CI, 0.01% to 15%]) had evidence of the phenotypes predicted by an MDR result (fundus albipunctatus due to RDH5 and variegate porphyria due to PPOX). Primary care physicians recommended new clinical actions for 16% (CI, 8% to 30%) of FH patients and 34% (CI, 22% to 49%) of FH + WGS patients. Thirty percent (CI, 17% to 45%) and 41% (CI, 27% to 56%) of FH and FH + WGS patients, respectively, reported making a health behavior change after 6 months. Geneticists rated PCP management of 8 MDR results (73% [CI, 39% to 99%]) as appropriate and 2 results (18% [CI, 3% to 52%]) as inappropriate.LimitationLimited sample size and ancestral and socioeconomic diversity.ConclusionAdding WGS to primary care reveals new molecular findings of uncertain clinical utility. Nongeneticist providers may be able to manage WGS results appropriately, but WGS may prompt additional clinical actions of unclear value.Primary Funding SourceNational Institutes of Health.

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