Soft kidney allocation improves HLA matching and maintains allocation order.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Kidney allocation scores aim to balance transplant efficacy and equity but often deprioritize Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) matching, leading to reduced graft lifespan and a higher risk of donor-specific antibodies (DSA). This study introduces a "soft allocation" strategy to improve HLA match rates while minimally disrupting the allocation queue or equity.

Methods

Donors include directed-living (D-LD), non-directed-living (ND-LD), and deceased (DD) types. In the "soft allocation" system, instead of automatically assigning the kidney to the first person in line, the kidney is offered to the best HLA match among the top patients on the waiting list. The predefined size of the top patient group (typically 5-20 patients) is referred to as K. This approach preserves bl

SUBMITTER: Israeli S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12717165 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature