Trial to double match blood for kidney transplants

Scientists are to double match blood intended for use for kidney transplant patients in a bid to make sure their donated kidney is less likely to be rejected.

If the six-month pilot scheme at Hammersmith Hospital in London is a success then the initiative could be rolled out nationally, the NHS said.

Blood will be matched by type and as close as possible to white blood cells.

NHS Blood and Transplant said it was hoped to "improve patient outcomes".

About two in five kidney transplant patients need blood transfusions, figures show.

After transfusion some patients make antibodies. If these are directed to the newly donated kidney, this can increase chances of organ rejection.

The NHS hopes that by matching white blood cell type - also known as tissue type or HLA type - as close as possible between the blood donor and the organ transplant patient, it will mean the patient is less likely to reject the "foreign" organ.

The blood will be matched at a specialist laboratory in Colindale, north-west London, and it will be supplied for transplant patients at Hammersmith Hospital, part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

NHS Blood and Transplant consultant clinical scientist Dr Colin Brown said it was an "innovative" pilot programme.

"Each year, around 1,000 kidney patients who are transplanted will also receive a transfusion," he said.

"If all of them could benefit from a successful transfusion programme and a wider roll-out, our models show 100 kidney transplants a year could be saved."

Alisha Gorkani, from Sidcup, south London, has juvenile nephronophthisis and has spent seven years waiting for a matching kidney transplant.

The 25-year-old has developed antibodies from a mix of blood transfusions and a past kidney transplant.

"I have a lot of antibodies so I could be waiting a very long time. I try to make the best of things but waiting for a kidney and being on dialysis is incredibly hard," she said.

"It does give me hope that people like me could have better matched blood in the future. There are thousands of people hoping for a miracle match."

Gemma Louis, from Chester-le-Street in County Durham, has waited 11 years for a kidney transplant because of "sensitisation from a blood transfusion".

Ms Louis, 44, said: "It's harder to find a match which won't be rejected.

"I was told initially my wait would be twice as long as normal, so around six years. I am 11 years in now."

At the end of March, 5,870 people in the UK were on the kidney transplant waiting list.