Recent developments in kidney transplantation--a critical assessment.
Rapid advances have been made in decreasing acute rejection rates and improving short-term graft survival in kidney transplant recipients. Whether these advances ultimately will lead to a commensurate improvement in long-term survival is not yet known. In recent years, greater attention has been placed on defining the precise etiology of graft loss, determining how far and with what agents we can minimize immunosuppression, and delineating the nature of both T-cell-mediated as well as antibody-mediated rejection. In addition, with the growing disparity of available organs and patients in need of a transplant, greater attention has been placed on optimizing allocation. In this minireview, we will focus on developments over the last couple of years, paying particular attention to insights, studies and observations that may attempt to elucidate some of these open questions.
Womer
K L
KL
Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Kaplan
B
B
D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000276:immunology; D006085:Graft Survival / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality; D009173:Mycophenolic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement
D016572:Cyclosporine; D009173:Mycophenolic Acid