Close HLA matching might lead to unequal access to kidney transplantion

To see whether their unit's policy of close HLA matching of donors and recipients was reducing the chances of ethnic minority patients getting a kidney transplant Higgins et al measured the rates of renal failure, kidney donation, and transplantation among white and Indo-Asian populations of Coventry and Warwickshire (p 1354). Similar proportions of both groups were placed on waiting lists for transplants, but 33% of Indo-Asians and 19% of Europeans remained on the list for over two years. The Indo-Asians had a lower rate of organ donation, a different distribution of blood groups, and a lower proportion in each blood group who received transplants. Since 1996 the unit has loosened its HLA matching policy slightly to try to ensure that all patients waiting more than two years are offered a kidney.


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