HLA class I and class II matched donor material for improved corneal allograft survival

Corneal graft survival was assessed within a large prospectively collected database of 2103 consecutive corneal grafts in a single center. HLA Class I antigen matching significantly improved graft survival in no only high risk recipients (p < 0.001) but also in low risk recipients (p = 0.0001). This effect was also present in a subset of 606 Organ cultured donor corneas for high risk patients (p = 0.05). Graft failures were observed in 608 transplants, 45.5% were due to immunological rejection. The beneficial effect of HLA Class II antigen matching on graft survival in 233 high risk patients (p = 0.02) and in a subset of 99 herpes keratitis patients (p = 0.05) was found after exclusion of the patients with non-immunological graft failures.