: Virtual crossmatching in Kidney Transplantation, Development of a Web-based Program

Abstract

Objectives- Kidney transplantation can increase survival and quality of life in patients with end-stage renal disease. In any allocation system, the crossmatch test plays an essential role in donor-recipient compatibility. In this study, we aim to test the benefits of a web-based program that captures HLA antibody analyses and provides a report to allow fast and accurate virtual crossmatches.

Patients and methods- One hundred potential recipients in the waiting list of renal transplants, were selected. The included patients should have a complete HLA antibody profile. Also, 10 potential donors from previous kidney transplants (2020), with available HLA typing results for A, B, and DR locus, were also selected.

Results-A comparison was made between 100 recipients against ten potential donors. The number of virtual crossmatches per donor was 10-60, with a mean of 25. The mean time for a manual virtual cross per patient was 30 min, as the virtual cross web-based program and embedded data needed 5 min per patient.

Discussion and conclusion- In conclusion, our data demonstrate that virtual crossmatch can present a complicated, time-consuming challenge for centers that do not record unacceptable data for HLA antibodies. In these centers, the result of virtual crossmatch for potential donors must be reviewed, the results of which may take about one hour to prepare. A web-based virtual crossmatch program that assesses HLA data can accurately perform a virtual cross match with fewer human errors. It is especially true for highly sensitized candidates.