Improved kidney graft survival through HLA-DR-MT matching

The influence of prospective HLA-DR matching on cadaver kidney graft survival rate was investigated in 85 transplants performed during 1979 and 1980 within the South German Cooperative Study Group for Kidney Transplantation. Prospective HLA-DR matching showed a clear influence on graft outcome as all HLA-DR identical grafts were still functioning after a period of one year and reached a two year graft survival rate of 82 per cent compared to 60/43 per cent of the groups mismatched for one/two HLA-DR antigens. Seventy-four donors and recipients were simultaneously typed for their MT-specificities. In a retrospective analysis seventeen grafts matched for two MT-specificities had a two year graft survival rate of 94 per cent which was significantly better than that of grafts mismatched for one (53%) or both (17%) MT-specificities. According to these results MT matching of donors and recipients seems to have a superior influence on kidney graft outcome than donor-recipient selection due to HLA-DR identity.