The transplantation risks for patients with various types of organ failure, dysplastic syndromes, aplastic anemias, and cancers can be assessed using HLA typing. Bone marrow transplants can be useful for ALL, AML, CLL, CML, and sickle cell disease.
When a patient needs a tissue transplant, recipients are tested to obtain baseline levels of (any) preformed antibodies by HLA antibody screening, ABO/Rh testing, and recipient HLA typing. These data points are submitted to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). The patient's information is listed and put on a waiting list based on various criteria to determine this particular patient's need for an organ compared to other patients. If matches are found, further testing is performed between the two individuals.
HLA A, B, C, DR, DP, and DQ are the classic HLA antigens used to determine optimal transplants of organs. In the perfect scenario, a patient will be a 12/12 match for all donor HLA alleles.
ABO/Rh compatibility is also essential for solid organ transplantations. Kidneys, for example, should be ABO matched as ABO can be expressed on those tissues.
