title: Challenges in pediatric renal transplantation.
abstract: Transplantation in children is the best option to treat renal failure. Over the last 25 years the improvements in therapy have dramatically reduced the risk of early acute rejection and graft loss, however the long term results in terms of graft survival and morbidity still require search for new immunosuppressive regimens. Tolerance of the graft and minimization of side effects are the challenges for improving the outcome of children with a grafted kidney. Notwithstanding the difficulties in settling in children large multicenter trials to derive statistically useful data, many important contributions in the last years brought important modifications in the immunosuppressive therapy, including minimization protocols of steroids and calcineurin inhibitors and new induction drugs. New methods for diagnosis of anti HLA antibodies and some new protocols to improve both chance and outcome of transplantation in immunized subjects represent area of ongoing research of extreme interest for children.
authors.affiliation: Licia Peruzzi, Alessandro Amore, Rosanna Coppo, University-Hospital Health Agency Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation Unit, Regina Margherita University Children's Hospital, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Licia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Peruzzi
authors.affiliation: Licia Peruzzi, Alessandro Amore, Rosanna Coppo, University-Hospital Health Agency Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation Unit, Regina Margherita University Children's Hospital, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amore
authors.affiliation: Licia Peruzzi, Alessandro Amore, Rosanna Coppo, University-Hospital Health Agency Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation Unit, Regina Margherita University Children's Hospital, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Rosanna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Coppo
keywords: Acute humoral rejection; Children; Desensitization; Immunosuppressive therapy; Kidney transplantation