title: Equal overall rejection rate in pre-transplant flow-cytometric cross-match negative and positive adult recipients in liver transplantation.
abstract: T cell IgG flow-cytometric cross-matches (FCXM) using 48 stored pre-transplant patient serum samples and 40 stored serum samples collected 3 wk after liver transplantation and frozen spleen cells of cadaveric donors in 48 consecutive liver transplantations were performed retrospectively. T cell IgG FCXM using pre-transplant serum samples was compared with 46 complement-dependent lymphocytotoxic cross-matches (CDCXM) performed at the time of transplantation. Clinical relevance of these tests was evaluated in relation to acute rejection, 1-, 3- and 5-yr graft and patient survival. The incidence of positive FCXM was 33% (16 of 48) and 13% (six of 46) by CDCXM. The median time of acute rejection was 29 d after transplantation in FCXM positive group (range 13-101 d) and 22 d in FCXM negative group (range 7-157 d, NS). Rejection rate was similar in 16 pre-transplant FCXM positive patients (eight of 16, 50%) compared with six pre-transplant CDCXM positive patients (three of six, 50%; NS). Recipients having graft rejection tended to be more often pre-transplant FCXM positive (eight of 21, 38%) than CDCXM positive (three of 21, 14%), but the difference was not significant (p > 0.1). No difference was found in the positive predictive value in relation to acute rejection between positive FCXM and CDCXM (69% vs. 50%; NS). Furthermore there was no correlation between post-transplant positive FCXM and acute rejection. No difference was found between pre-transplant T cell IgG FCXM positive and negative recipients in relation to graft or patient survival. Our findings are supportive for little risk associated with preformed donor-specific antibodies in liver transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Tissue Typing, Red Cross Finland, Blood Service, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Irma H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Matinlauri
authors.forename: Krister A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Höckerstedt
authors.forename: Helena M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Isoniemi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic / Q000276:immunology*; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D006650:Histocompatibility Testing; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology*; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000601:surgery; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic; D007074:Immunoglobulin G