Serotyping for homotransplantation. XIX. Experience with an interhospital scheme of cadaver-kidney sharing and tissue typing

Abstract

During the first 11 months of an interhospital program of cadaver-kidney sharing and tissue typing, 77 possible donors were typed, and 47 kidneys from 30 donors were transplanted into 46 recipients. Sixteen transplants were compatible with respect to the five leukocyte antigens considered. There was a tendency to accumulate recipients with few or rare antigens who were difficult to match. When the effect of recipient-pool size was studied under a hypothetical situation, 80% of potential transplants were compatible if both donor kidneys were transplanted into two recipients selected from the pool of eight hospitals, whereas only 25% were compatible if the recipients were selected from the "donor" hospital alone. Interhospital cooperation could allow a maximum utilization of cadaver kidneys and rapidly provide data for a critical evaluation of tissue typing in cadaver-organ transplantation.