HLA matching at local level more beneficial

Should organs be allocated on a national or local basis? This  is the ongoing debate in the U.S.A. mark A. Schnitzler, PH.D, of Washington University School of Medicine and colleagues addressed this particular issue in The New England Journal of Medicine (1999;341:1440-1446) with regard to kidney transplantation. They found that in a national allocation scheme the longer cold-ischemia time had more damaging effects. “The economic benefits resulting from greater HLA matching are most read available at the local level. This could lead to substantial savings in health care cost,” they said.