The 2020 autumn Newsletter has been published and contains information on the progress of the transition to the virtual crossmatch in Eurotransplant, some news on data extracts, the extra EPT shipment, and on a new form for AM patient updates.
Due to the Corona pandemic the Extramural meeting that was planned on the 13th of March 2020 in Mechelen, Belgium was cancelled. Since a physical meeting will not be possible in the foreseen future, the ETRL will host a virtual Extramural meeting on Wednesday the 27th of November from 9:30 till 13:00. The preliminary program is as follows:
The 2020 spring Newsletter has been published and contains information on the introduction of the vPRA, and an update on the EPT scheme changes due to Corona.
Because of the Corona pandemic we were forced to postpone the March shipment and the May shipment will also be postponed.
Since governmental restrictions are now gradually scaled down, we have decided to make a new shipment schedule for the EPT on the 2020 typing and crossmatching, as well as for the patient- based cases. Additionally, we decided to temporarily prolong the deadlines from 2 to 3 weeks.
Please note that at the moment there is still a possibility that we are not able or allowed to ship on the dates announced. Whenever necessary we will reschedule again and keep you updated.
There will be an extra shipment in January for the laboratories that do not yet meet the criteria or were unable to receive any of the planned shipments. The date of this extra shipment will be announced at a later time.
| Shipping date | Typing Dispatch (n) | Deadline typing and xm report | Screening Dispatch (n) | Crossmatch Dispatch* | Deadline screening report |
| 04-02-2020 | 3 | 18-02-2020 | EPT-Scr-A-L (12 sera) | EPT-XM- A, B, C | 07-07-2020 |
| 16-06-2020 | 3 | 07-07-2020 | x | EPT-XM- D, E, F | x |
| 08-09-2020 | 3 | 29-09-2020 | x | EPT-XM- G, H, I | x |
| 03-11-2020 | 3 | 24-11-2020 | x | EPT-XM- J, K, L | x |
| Patient-based cases EPT | |
|---|---|
| Information/form sent | Deadline results |
| 04-02-2020 | 18-02-2020 |
| 16-06-2020 | 07-07-2020 |
| 03-11-2020 | 24-11-2020 |
Please let us know before the 21st of May 2020 if the proposed shipment dates and/or deadlines will be problematic for you. Also, when you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
The paper entitled “Generation and reactivity analysis of human recombinant monoclonal antibodies directed against epitopes on HLA-DR has been accepted for publication by the American Journal of Transplantation. The manuscript describes how we have developed human recombinant monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against HLA-DR, as well as the analysis of the amino acids/eplets recognised by these mAbs.
The joint 2019 ETRL/PROCARE publication on the Acceptable Mismatch (AM) program entitled “Allocation to highly sensitized patients based on acceptable mismatches results in low rejection rates comparable to nonsensitized patients” has been one of the most downloaded and read papers from the American Journal of Transplantation in 2018/2019.
The paper describes the incidence of rejection in the Dutch transplant cohort between 1995 and 2005 that have been transplanted through the AM progam. The results show that allocation based on acceptable antigens leads to relatively low-risk transplants for highly sensitized patients with rejection rates similar to those of non-immunized individuals. The publication is available Online Open from Wiley-Blackwell.
Since the introduction of the vPRA, there are some changes in how the immunological data of patients awaiting a kidney transplant should be registered in ENIS. Please read the tutorial which indicates all changes.
The Eurotransplant Reference Laboratory is very pleased to present you its new website. The look and feel of this new website is identical to the Eurotransplant main page.
On the ETRL website information on the tasks and responsibilities of the ETRL can be found, as well as information on the scientific research conducted by the ETRL. Finally, overviews and presentation from the annual ETRL extramural meetings can be found.
Due to the current Covid19 crisis, the 2020 ETRL extramural meeting has been postponed until further notice. We hope that the extramural meeting that was originally planned for March 13, 2020 in Mechelen can be held in the near future.
The ETRL EPT shipment that was originally planned for the 24th of March has been postponed until further notice. The ETRL is currently investigating whether shipment on a later date is possible, to whether EFI regulations allow us to merge 2020 with 2021 for EPT purposes.