Tailoring HLA antibody monitoring post-transplantation

Abstract Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) donor-specific antibodies (DSA) are among the most important determinants of late allograft loss after kidney transplantation. However, no uniform monitoring strategy has been validated in pediatric recipients. This educational review recommends that post-transplant HLA antibody monitoring in children should be tailored to the individual patient’s immunological risk profile rather than applied as a fixed schedule. Pediatric recipients face a heterogeneous risk landscape due to prolonged allograft exposure, high age-specific risk of nonadherence during adolescence, and the influence of the chosen immunosuppressive regimen, which demands a differentiated approach. Drawing on current international consensus documents, multicenter registry data, and emerging pediatric cohort studies, this review examines the scientific basis of HLA antibody-mediated injury, the available diagnostic tools, and the supporting evidence for risk-adapted monitoring intervals, individualized trigger-based testing, and interpretation of test results as mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) in a clinical context. We give special attention to adolescence and nonadherence as high-risk categories warranting intensified surveillance. We aim to provide a practical framework for tailored personalized HLA antibody monitoring that is applicable in the daily care of pediatric kidney transplant recipients.