The effect of first cadaver renal transplant HLA-A, B match on sensitization levels and retransplant rates following graft failure.

Data were collected retrospectively on all 449 first-transplant cadaver renal allograft recipients transplanted at four centers between 1/1/78 an 12/31/82 who had graft failure by 1/1/85. A total of 383 of these patients had information available regarding subsequent disposition. Of these, 182 (47.5%) were placed on an active waiting list for retransplantation. There were no associations found between placement on a waiting list and the following variables: panel reactive antibody (PRA) prior to first transplant or subsequent to graft failure, recipient age at first transplant or at the time of graft failure, recipient race, PRA after first graft loss, or HLA-A, B match of the first transplant. When stratified by level of HLA-A, B match as poor (0-1 antigen, n = 150) or good (2-4 antigens, n = 233) the poorly matched recipients as a group had a significantly lower mean PRA prior to first transplant (9.4 +/- 1.6 vs. 15.5 +/- 1.7, P less than 0.01), but a significantly higher PRA within the first year following graft failure (48.1 +/- 4.8 vs. 36.2 +/- 3.2, P less than 0.04). In addition, the poorly matched (vs. well-matched) group had a significantly higher mean increase in PRA following graft failure (45.1 +/- 4.4 vs. 33.7 +/- 3.5), and a significantly higher percentage of patients with PRA level greater than or equal to 60% within a year after graft failure (40% vs. 25%). Of the 182 patients who were placed on a waiting list, 113 (62.1%) were regrafted. As a group, regrafted patients had a significantly lower PRA within the first year following graft failure compared with the group not regrafted (33.6 +/- 3.9 vs. 54.0 +/- 5.0, P less than 0.002). Patients with a good first transplant HLA match had a higher overall regraft rate compared with those with a poor match (70.0% vs. 50.0%, P less than 0.01). Likewise, the percentage of well-matched patients regrafted within two years of first graft failure was significantly higher (55.5% vs. 32.5%, P less than 0.02). By multivariate analysis using the Cox proportional hazard model with 13 separate variables and considering all patients, the relative risk (RR) of not being regrafted was significantly (P less than 0.012) associated with poor HLA-A, B matching of the first transplant (RR = 1.7).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)