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Desensitization and survival in kidney transplant recipients

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Elimination of donor-specific antibodies against HLA has been used to enable transplantation of HLA-incompatible kidneys from living donors. In contrast to two previous US studies, a UK study now reports that desensitization does not offer a survival benefit over remaining on the waitlist for a compatible organ.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr Undine Samuel from the Eurotransplant Foundation, Leiden, Netherlands and Dr Abdullah Sakarcan from Reading, Pennsylvania, USA, for useful information on sensitized patients in the Eurotransplant region and the USA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Caner Süsal and Gerhard Opelz are at the Institute of Immunology, Transplantation Immunology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 305, Heidelberg, D-69120, Germany

    Caner Süsal & Gerhard Opelz

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  1. Caner Süsal
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  2. Gerhard Opelz
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Correspondence to Caner Süsal.

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Competing interests

C.S. has received lecture fees from Fresenius and Miltenyi, who produce immunoadsorption devices for desensitization. G.O. declares no competing interests.

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Süsal, C., Opelz, G. Desensitization and survival in kidney transplant recipients. Nat Rev Nephrol 13, 196–198 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneph.2017.24

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