title: British Society for Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics and British Transplantation Society guidelines for the detection and characterisation of clinically relevant antibodies in allotransplantation.
abstract: Ongoing technological developments in antibody detection and characterisation allowing relative quantitation of HLA-specific antibody levels, combined with crossmatch results, now allow a graded assessment of patient potential donor immunological risk for allotransplantation, rather than a simple 'positive' or 'negative' categorization of crossmatch results. These developments have driven a thorough revision of the British Society for Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics and British Transplantation Society Guidelines for the Detection and Characterisation of Clinically Relevant Antibodies in Allotransplantation. These newly published revised Guidelines contain a number of recommendations as to best practice for antibody detection and crossmatching for the transplantation of a wide range of solid organs and tissues. These recommendations are briefly summarized in this article.
authors.affiliation: Department of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, NHS Blood and Transplant, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. martin.howell@nhsbt.nhs.uk
authors.forename: W M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Howell
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Harmer
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Briggs
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dyer
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Fuggle
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sinnott
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vaughan
mesh_terms: D000906:Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D006650:Histocompatibility Testing; D006801:Humans; D016381:Islets of Langerhans Transplantation / Q000276:immunology; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000276:immunology; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000276:immunology; D016377:Organ Transplantation; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D006680:HLA Antigens