Developments in clinical islet, liver thoracic, kidney and pancreas transplantation in the last 5 years.
Although organ transplantation has matured into a proven therapy for end-stage organ failure, the many notable developments of the past 5 years speak to the multitude of remaining challenges. Two new procedures, islet transplantation and adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation, have emerged to enlarge our therapeutic armamentarium for Type 1 diabetes mellitus and end-stage liver disease, respectively. In cardiac transplantation, the acceptance of ventricular assist devices as destination therapy is a notable event in light of critical shortage of deceased donor organs. Both liver and lung allocation policies have made a dramatic paradigm shift away from waiting time toward the survival benefit of transplantation. Finally, primary threats to post-transplant longevity have gained an increasing share of the spotlight. Recognition of the impact of renal insufficiency for all nonrenal transplant recipients, of recurrent hepatitis C virus for liver recipients, and of accelerated vasculopathy for cardiac have identified novel end points for clinical trials.
Feng
S
S
Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation, University of California, San Francisco, USA. fengs@surgery.ucsf.edu
Barr
M
M
Roberts
J
J
Oberbauer
R
R
Kaplan
B
B
D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000276:immunology / Q000379:methods*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D016035:Pancreas Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors