If you have this
blood type...
...you can only receive
a kidney from
someone with
this blood type.
Blood type
You and the donor need to have compatible blood types, just as in blood donation. A patient with type O can only accept a kidney from a donor with type O, but a patient with type AB can accept all the other blood types.
Crossmatch testing
Small samples of the donor's and patient's blood are mixed together. If the patient's cells attack the donor's cells, this is called a positive crossmatch. It means that the donor's kidney would be
You and the donor need to have compatible blood types, just as in blood donation. A patient with type O can only accept a kidney from a donor with type O, but a patient with type AB can accept all the other blood types.
Crossmatch testing
Small samples of the donor's and patient's blood are mixed together. If the patient's cells attack the donor's cells, this is called a positive crossmatch. It means that the donor's kidney would be
immediately and irreversibly rejected.
HLA (tissue typing)
Six human leukocyte antigens are relevant in kidney transplants. You inherit 3 from each parent, so you will always have a 3 out of 6 match with a parent. You can still have a transplant even with a 0 match, though. Three years after the transplant, patient survival with a 3, 4, 5, or 6 antigen match is only about 3% better than with a 0, 1, or 2 antigen match.
HLA (tissue typing)
Six human leukocyte antigens are relevant in kidney transplants. You inherit 3 from each parent, so you will always have a 3 out of 6 match with a parent. You can still have a transplant even with a 0 match, though. Three years after the transplant, patient survival with a 3, 4, 5, or 6 antigen match is only about 3% better than with a 0, 1, or 2 antigen match.
|
|  |  |
