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Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Orthotopic Rat Kidney Transplantation: A Novel and Simplified Surgical Approach
Published on: May 7, 2019
New choices for patients needing kidney transplantation across antibody barriers
Rob Higgins1, Mark Hathaway, David Lowe
1Transplant Unit, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire, Coventry, West Midlands, UK. robert.higgins@uhcw.nhs.uk
Antibodies in the blood of a kidney transplant recipient can provide a barrier to transplantation, which is additional to the usual possibility of cellular rejection. The antibodies most frequently encountered are ABO (blood group) and human leucocyte antigen (HLA) (tissue-type) antibodies. About 250 living donor transplants each year in the United Kingdom have been stopped because of an antibody barrier. It is now possible to offer a choice of treatment modalities to these people, including exchange transplantation and antibody-incompatible transplantation. It is likely that both schemes will complement each other and both are available in the United Kingdom.
Antibodies in the blood of a kidney transplant recipient can provide a barrier to transplantation, which is additional to the usual possibility of cellular rejection. The antibodies most frequently encountered are ABO (blood group) and human leucocyte antigen (HLA) (tissue-type) antibodies. About 250 living donor transplants each year in the United Kingdom have been stopped because of an antibody barrier. It is now possible to offer a choice of treatment modalities to these people, including exchange transplantation and antibody-incompatible transplantation. It is likely that both schemes will complement each other and both are available in the United Kingdom.
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