Certified Clinical Transplant Nurse (CCTN) 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

A positive cross-match indicates that the donor and recipient are not a good match. In the context of transplantation, a cross-match is a laboratory test performed to assess compatibility between the donor's tissues and the recipient's immune system. This test looks for the presence of preformed antibodies in the recipient that could react against the donor's antigens.

When the cross-match is positive, it means that the recipient has antibodies that could attack and reject the donor's cells, increasing the risk of acute rejection and transplant failure. This result typically leads to further evaluations and discussions regarding alternative donor options or strategies to desensitize the recipient, if a transplant is still being considered.

In contrast, a negative cross-match suggests that the donor and recipient are compatible, allowing the transplant to proceed safely. Therefore, recognizing a positive cross-match is critical in the transplant decision-making process, emphasizing the importance of compatibility in successful transplant outcomes.