HLA crossmatch (wet crossmatch)

There are two crossmatch tests that are used to assess patient and donor compatibility. These are the complement dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) and flow cytometry crossmatches (FCXM).

CDC detects IgG and IgM complement fixing antibodies, with IgG complement fixing antibodies being particularly likely to cause antibody-mediated rejection.

The FCXM detects both complement and non-complement fixing antibodies and is a more sensitive assay than the CDC test, ensuring low level antibodies directed towards donor HLA are detected.

Preformed IgG, or occasionally IgM antibodies, in the recipient, directed against donor HLA antigens, are a cause of hyperacute or accelerated allograft rejection in solid organ grafts. They may also present an increased risk of graft failure in in haematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT). HLA crossmatching tests recipients’ serum for the presence of pre-formed anti-donor antibodies which may represent an additional risk or contraindication to transplantation in solid organ grafts and in selected haematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT).

Crossmatching tests, in particular the CDC crossmatching, are particularly relevant for the prevention of hyperacute rejection of the graft. The crossmatching tests alongside HLA antibody testing allows risk of rejection to be stratified and aids in the assessment of suitability of donor recipient pairs.

The Flow crossmatch test is an integral part of donor selection procedures and ensures that low level antibodies directed towards donor HLA are also detected.

N/A

ALL samples must be <24 hours old (testing requires viable cells)

The laboratory is accredited for this test by the European Federation of Immunogenetics (EFI) and UKAS.