title: Kidney transplantation.
abstract: Since 1954, more than 26,000 kidney transplants have been performed and transplantation is now an accepted method for the treatment of end-stage renal disease. Recent advances in transplantation include operation not only on ideal recipients, but also on a much broader group of patients; an improved understanding of rejection mechanisms; better employment of standard immunosuppressive drugs; identification of an additional major histocompatibility antigen system; appreciation that blood transfusions prior to transplantation may facilitate acceptance of cadaver kidneys; and development of intracellular washout solutions for kidney preservation. Although the overall functional survival rates of kidney transplants have not improved recently, there has been a significant improvement in patient survival, especially after transplantation of cadaver kidneys.
mesh_terms: D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000187:drug effects; D006650:Histocompatibility Testing; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000601:surgery; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D009926:Organ Preservation; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology; D014181:Transplantation Immunology / Q000187:drug effects; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents