BACKGROUND:

Many patients with circulating antibodies to human leucocyte antigens (anti-HLA) are highly sensitised against renal transplantation and are liable to immediate graft loss through hyperacute rejection. Our aim was to find out whether removal of anti-HLA immediately before renal transplantation prevented hyperacute graft rejection.

METHODS:

13 highly sensitised patients underwent cadaveric renal transplants immediately after immunoadsorption (IA) treatment to remove anti-HLA. Before IA, 12 patients had a positive crossmatch against donor cells either by cytotoxic or flow-cytometric assay; results for one patient were equivocal.

FINDINGS:

Renal biopsy samples were obtained 20 min after removal of the vascular clamps in nine patients. There was no evidence of hyperacute rejection in six of the nine patients; the other three patients showed glomerular thrombosis but no other evidence of hyperacute rejection. Two of these three grafts were functioning at 31 months of follow-up. Six episodes of acute rejection occurred in five patients during the first month after transplantation and overall there were 13 rejection episodes in nine patients. At latest follow-up (median 26 months, range 9-42), 12 of 13 patients were alive and seven of 13 grafts were surviving with a median plasma creatinine concentration of 185 mumol/L (range 106-296) in the functioning grafts. No graft was lost as a result of classic hyperacute rejection.

INTERPRETATION:

Immediate pretransplant IA can prevent hyperacute rejection and provide an opportunity for successful transplantation in highly sensitised patients.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:	Case Series / Case Control / Cohort
LANGUAGE:	English
ORGAN TYPE:	Kidney

MESH HEADINGS:	Adolescent; Adult; Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic; Child; Cross Reactions; Female; Flow Cytometry; Graft Rejection; HLA Antigens; Humans; Kidney Transplantation; Male; Middle Aged