PhD defence A.E. (Annelies) Kirkpatrick- de Weerd

Blood groups are relevant for kidney transplantation as circulating antibodies to other blood groups can cause rejection. Especially candidates with blood group O are hindered by their antibodies against blood group A and B. Therefore in deceased donor kidney transplantation, the allocation of donor kidneys is restricted to the same blood group. In living donor transplantation this is not the case as donors mostly donate their kidney directly: ‘universal’ blood group O donors donate their kidney to a relative or friend, irrespective of the blood group of the recipient. This results in longer waiting times for blood group O and to a lesser extent blood group B as compared to blood group A candidates.
Crossing the blood group barrier is possible with blood group ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation after ‘desensitization’. This treatment consists of immunoadsorption, a filtration technique that removes AB-antibodies, and an extra immunosuppressive drug. The first ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation in the Netherlands took place in the Erasmus Medical Center in 2006. The results of this thesis reveal that ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation is superior to waiting for a deceased donor kidney transplantation. Other findings are a higher bleeding risk with immunosadsorption, that this filtration technique can be withheld after transplantation, and that the type of extra immunosuppressive drug influences the higher risk of rejection.

Due to corona, the PhD defences do not take place publicly in the usual way in the Senate Hall or in the Professor Andries Querido Room. The candidates will defend their dissertation either in a small group or online.