Comparative analysis of how immune sensitization is defined prior to lung transplantation

Background: Immune sensitization prior to lung transplantation may be associated with worse survival. Using solid phase assays to define sensitization, we assessed the relationship between PRA status, donor specific anti-HLA antibodies (DSA) pre-transplant, cytotoxic cross match results and the clinical outcomes following lung transplantation. Methods: Luminex assays determined the presence of antibodies to class I and class II MHC molecules prior to lung transplantation. At the time of transplant, the PRA status, the presence of DSA and prospective cytotoxic cross match result were analysed in 195 patients undergoing lung transplantation between June 2008 and June 2012. Clinical outcomes analysed included acute cellular and antibody-mediated rejection, chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) and mortality. Results: At the time of transplant, 45 of patients had a positive PRA and 29 had DSA. On univariate analysis, the presence of pre-transplant class I or II anti-HLA donor-specific antibodies was not associated with the development of chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) despite significant associations with PRA status and B-cell crossmatch. Conclusion: Defining sensitization using solid phase assays provide additional details regarding donor-specific sensitization but did not provide additional prognostic information to that provided by historically available cell-based cross-match assays.