Transplant survival and clinical course after pretransplant HLA-A and B matched blood transfusions: a single centre study.

The effects of HLA-A and B matched pretransplant blood transfusions on the outcome of primary cadaveric kidney transplantation were studied prospectively in a group of 15 patients who had never received a transplant and had never been pregnant. From our study, prolongation of graft survival could be demonstrated for patients receiving pretransplant HLA-A and B matched blood transfusions. The clinical course was comparable to that found in a group of patients who received random pretransplant blood transfusions, although there were considerably more patients in this latter group hospitalised for a very long period, a fact which could be attributed mainly to viral infections.