title: Mucosal fibrosis in intestinal transplant biopsies correlates positively with the development of chronic rejection.
abstract: Endoscopic biopsies of intestinal allografts are limited to the superficial layers of the bowel. We investigated whether the presence of mucosal fibrosis in graft biopsies was indicative of chronic allograft rejection. We examined graft biopsies of 182 intestinal transplant recipients for the presence of mucosal fibrosis. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that within 5 years posttransplantation 33% of intestinal transplant patients had graft biopsies positive for mucosal fibrosis. Although the presence of mucosal fibrosis did not affect patient or graft survival, patients with this lesion were at higher risk of developing chronic allograft enteropathy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Pathology, University of Miami, 1611 NW 12th Avenue, JMH Holtz Center #2101, Miami, FL 33136, USA.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tryphonopoulos
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Weppler
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nishida
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Levi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Selvaggi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Madariaga
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Delagarza
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tzakis
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ruiz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005355:Fibrosis; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000473:pathology*; D007422:Intestines / Q000637:transplantation*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous / Q000473:pathology*; D014781:Viscera / Q000637:transplantation