Abstract
Purpose :
To evaluate the influence of matching minor histocompatibility H-Y antigen on corneal graft survival in primary penetrating keratoplasty (PKP).
Methods :
We retrospectively investigated the graft rejection and graft failure after primary PKP in 137 eyes. The compatible combinations of H-Y antigen for the donors and recipients were male donors and male recipients (n =57), female donors and male recipients (n =23), and female donors and female recipients (n = 16). Incompatible combination was male donors and female recipients (n = 41). The eyes were classified into two groups - mismatched (41 eyes) and matched (96 eyes) - depending on the disparity of H-Y antigen compatibility. The indications for surgery were corneal opacity (49.63%), bullous keratopathy (24.81%), corneal thinning or perforation (8.75%), keratoconus (5.83%), corneal dystrophy (2.91%), and others (8.02%). Data were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier life table method and the log rank test.
Results :
Graft rejection in the mismatched group (mean survival time; 45.00 ±4.80 months) and the matched group (mean survival time; 48.18 ± 6.88 months) was not significantly different (p=0.463, x2 = 0.538, log rank test). Graft failure in the mismatched group (mean survival time; 62.89 ±4.67 months) and the matched (mean survival time; 65.83 ± 7.87 months) was not significantly different (p=0.943, x2 = 0.005, log rank test). A subgroup analysis was performed after dividing the subjects into a low risk and a high risk subgroup based on their preoperative diagnosis, and H-Y matching had no effect on graft survival in either subgroup.
Conclusions :
The H-Y antigen incompatibility between corneal graft donor and recipient does not contribute significantly to the development of graft rejection and graft failure on primary penetrating keratoplasty.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.