Originally posted by Amy on Facebook 2/8/2017
The University of Washington Medicine called with some GREAT news! Corey’s cross match results are back. He is a blood type match (he is O+, Kaylin is B+) and a 3:6 antigen match. The doctors say that’s good. So, the next step is a 24-hour urine collection and another vial of blood for Corey. Kaylin will be happy to be off the hook for those tests for once, lol!
Here is some information on antigen matching for those that are curious, like I was. The donor screening process is a long one — so, this isn’t a sure thing….but it is definitely good news!
Antigen Matching: Every person inherits a unique set of certain proteins called antigens from their parents. Antigens stimulate the immune system to attack and fight off (or reject) foreign substances that are harmful to the body. Six of these antigens (3 inherited from each parent) are relevant to kidney transplantation. The more antigens the donor and recipient have in common, the more compatible the match. Thus, a match between 6 out of 6 antigens (6:6) is more compatible than a 5:6 match, a 4:6 match, and so on. The more compatible the match, the lower the chance of rejection, resulting in a longer-lived kidney.
A 6-antigen or “perfect” match is the single best match that can occur between a donor and recipient. Siblings who have the same mother and father share this ideal match 25% of the time. Six-anitgen matches can occur among the general population, but it is rare. Regardless of the match, a kidney recipient must take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of his or her life to prevent the immune system from rejecting the foreign kidney.
Read more: http://m.livingkidneydonorsearch.com/living-…/compatibility/