[Typing for HLA matching. Advantages for keratoplasty]

Matching of human leukocyte antigens of donors and recipients (HLA matching) plays a significant role in kidney, heart, lung, and stem cell transplantation. New data demonstrate that HLA matching also significantly prolongs the survival of corneal grafts. The reasons for the late recognition of the significance of HLA matching in corneal transplantation are on the one hand the immune privilege of the eye, which allows corneal transplantation under certain conditions without immunosuppressive therapy, and on the other hand highly erroneous serological typing. Recent molecular DNA typing is almost without errors, and the selection of grafts on the basis of results obtained using this method will improve the long-time survival of future corneal grafts. Today, there are several reasons arguing for the general practice of HLA matching in keratoplasty.