ABO Blood Group Antibody Elimination by a Combination of Semiselective Immunoadsorption Therapy and Membrane Filtration

* Recipient desensitization protocols were shown to enable successful living donor kidney transplantation across major ABO blood group barriers. For extracorporeal depletion of circulating ABO antibodies plasmapheresis or ABO blood group specific immunoadsorption (IA) are most commonly used. * The efficiency of semiselective non-antigen specific IA in ABO-incompatible transplantation is currently not well established. One potential drawback of semiselective adsorbers could be an incomplete elimination of IgM. * This randomized controlled crossover trial was designed to clarify whether membrane filtration, as an adjunct to semiselective IA, can substantially enhance elimination of IgM.