Histocompatibility Laboratory (HLA)

The Willis-Knighton Histocompatibility Laboratory (HLA) serves the patients of the John C. McDonald Regional Transplant Center and those donors who give the gift of life. 

The laboratory is fully accredited by the College of American Pathologists, approved by the OPTN/UNOS, and is incorporated into Willis-Knighton laboratory services. The Histocompatibility Laboratory is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by state licensed and nationally certified professionals who are devoted to the field of transplant science.

State-of-the art histocompatibility testing is essential to significantly reduce the risk of organ rejection by avoiding clinically-relevant antibodies against donor tissue. Potential organ recipients and donors are HLA tissue-typed using the latest DNA-based molecular technologies to determine the degree of match. The laboratory routinely monitors for anti-HLA antibodies in kidney transplant candidates to avoid receiving kidneys from donors who could be carrying the antigens against which those antibodies are directed. Immediately prior to transplant, a cross-match test is performed between the potential transplant recipient’s blood and the donor’s cells to predict any reaction between them, thereby further reducing the risk of injury to the transplanted organ.