ABO antigen blood-group compatibility and allograft rejection in corneal transplantation

Purpose: To evaluate effects of ABO antigen blood-group matching on the rat es of corneal allograft rejection after penetrating keratoplasty, Methods: We retrospectively studied clinical results of penetrating keratop lasties in terms of graft survival rates and rejection-free graft survival rates. Penetrating keratoplasties mere done on 95 eyes between 1993 and 199 7. Clinical results were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier life table method and log-rank test. The corneal transplantations mere classified into 2 grou ps, high-risk (35 eyes) and low-risk (60 eyes) transplantations. High-risk transplantation was defined as significant vascularization in the recipient corneas or a history of graft failure. The remaining transplantations were defined as low-risk. Results: The respective graft survival (p=0.031) and rejection-free graft s urvival (p=0.0097) rates were higher in the low-risk than in the high-risk group. In the high-risk group, the rejection-free graft survival was 68.9% for the ABO-compatible subgroup and 36.4% for the ABO-incompatible subgroup (p=0.007). Conclusion: ABO matching is effective in reducing the risk of allograft rej ection in high-risk corneal transplantations.