National Allocation of Cadaveric Kidneys by HLA Matching

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Abstract
Although receiving a cadaveric kidney matched at the HLA-A, B, and DR loci enhances graft survival in cyclosporine-treated patients, the value of a national system of kidney allocation based on HLA matching, with the attendant increased likelihood of better matching, is still questioned. Some fear that the costs of a national system are unjustified when only a small fraction of donors would exactly match any of the 16,000 potential recipients anyway. We estimated the effect on graft survival of the use of HLA matching for all allocations of cadaveric kidneys in the United States.