VIRTUAL CROSSMATCH AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE OF HLA ANTIBODIES DETECTED BY LUMINEX-SINGLE ANTIGEN BEADS.

The high sensitivity of Luminex Single Antigen Beads (LSA) in detecting low levels of antibodies makes hard to enable a “virtual crossmatch” (v-XM) for prediction of XM results in donor selection. Our v-XM protocol showed high sensitivity in predicting donor-recipient immunologic compatibility. Prediction based on LSA assay feels the amount of antigen on beads and may not be representative of the amount found on cells. Our findinfs highlight the importance to discard weak and likely irrelevant DSA in performing a clinically useful v-XM.