Transplant Survival and Antibody to Hepatitis Virus

To the Editor: London et al. (N Engl J Med 296:241–244, 1977) presented data linking graft survival in renal-transplant recipients to their pre-transplant response after exposure to the hepatitis B virus. The authors concluded that kidneys transplanted into patients with HBsAb have a poor prognosis, particularly if the donor is male, and they speculated that Y-linked histocompatibility antigens (H-Y antigen) might influence the host response to both HBsAg and HLA antigens. A retrospective study of patients receiving transplants at Parkland Memorial Hospital from January, 1970, through June, 1976, does not support these conclusions. (The study was supported, in part, by. . . No extract is available for articles shorter than 400 words.