Improved outcome of renal transplantation with cyclosporine compared with azathioprine--experience in 33 recipients followed for over one year

Chronic rejection of the liver: the role of immunosuppression

Liver transplantation is now widely recognised as an effective treatment option for patients with advanced liver disease. Many units now achieve greater than 85% survival at 1 year, with the majority of patients having a high quality of life. The maintenance of a high quality of life requires careful clinical management to ensure that the continued maintenance of excellent liver graft function is not achieved at the expense of immunosuppressive drug complications or morbidity. Acute liver rejection will occur in between 30 to 45% of patients, although with modern immunosuppressive protocols, usually combining one of the calcineurin agents, either cyclosporin or tacrolimus, with both azathioprine and corticosteroids (prednisolone) ensures that relatively few grafts are lost from severe acute rejection. While the incidence and severity of acute rejection may be one factor in raising the risk of chronic rejection, it may not be the principal one in many patients. It is important to recognise that the frequency of rejection also varies with the primary underlying liver disease, with patients with hepatitis B or alcoholic liver disease having relatively low rejection rates, compared with patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) or primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), which range between 20 to 70%. Chronic rejection will account for some 5% of grafts lost in the first 3 to 5 years. Indeed, there is some evidence that the incidence of chronic rejection is actually declining over the past few years. While the reason for this apparent decline is uncertain, and it could relate to better immunosuppression management, or more likely to the growing recognition that chronic graft dysfunction may be due to recurrent liver disease, such as autoimmune hepatitis, PBC, PSC, or recurrent hepatitis C. The differentiation of recurrent primary liver disease from chronic rejection can prove to be very difficult in clinical practice. Thus, the clinician must carefully monitor liver and graft function, evaluate any biochemical changes, and try to reach a clear diagnosis before considering any modification of immunosuppressive schedules.

Ten-year protocol biopsy findings of renal allografts in the calcineurin inhibitor era

Ten-year protocol biopsies were performed in 16 patients treated with calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) continuously. All kidney grafts were functioning well at the time of biopsy with the mean serum creatinine level of 1.6 +/- 0.8 mg/dL. The specimen of biopsy showed various degrees of tissue injury. According to the Banff grading, allograft glomerulopathy (cg) was observed in one case. Interstitial fibrosis (ci) and tubular atrophy (ct) were observed more frequently in 13 (81%) and 15 (93%) cases, respectively. Fibrous intimal thickening (cv) was seen in one (7%) case. Arteriolar hyaline thickening (ah) was seen in 14 (87%) cases. These findings were associated with chronic rejection in one case, recurrence of original disease in four (25%) cases, toxicity of CNI in 14 (87%) cases. Longer follow-up studies are needed to confirm whether CNI should be continued or not in the long-term period following kidney transplantation for better graft survival.

The successful outcome of second kidney transplantation and its contributing factors

Fourteen out of 301 patients who underwent allogeneic kidney transplantations, between April, 1970 and December, 1987, received second kidney allografts, including 4 living and 10 cadaveric grafts. The survival of the second grafts transplanted in those 14 recipients was superior to that of the first grafts transplanted in the other 287 recipients. Furthermore, the survival of the second grafts from 4 years onwards was significantly higher than that of the first grafts, in spite of a higher population of cadaveric grafts used in the second transplantation than in the first. Although it was impossible to determine the main factor which induced the improved survival of the second grafts when compared with that of the first, a combination of beneficial factors, such as a high rate of living related transplantation resulting in long-term graft survival of the first transplantation, the administration of immunosuppressive drugs during the period of re-hemodialysis and blood transfusion prior to the second transplantation, was considered to be the reason why successful second graft survival was achieved.

Results of kidney transplantation in 25 pediatric patients

Outcome, long-term prognosis, growth activity and rehabilitation after kidney transplantation were studied in 25 pediatric patients transplanted with a kidney graft from one-haplotype identical parent. Excellent patient and graft survival with low incidences of acute rejection or serious complications could be achieved in this population, as compared with the results of adult recipients. Growth retardations in height and weight were observed in these patients before transplantation, and were significantly correlated with the duration of low or no kidney function. In 12 recipients who were transplanted at ages of younger than 15 years and followed up over two years, a dramatic increase in weight appeared within one year after transplantation and a greater increase in height was exhibited in the second and third year than in the first. Increase in height was significantly greater in those children transplanted at ages of younger than 10 years than in those transplanted at ages of older than 11 years. Catch-up growth was observed in one-third of these children. Retrospectively, there was no difference in the doses of prednisolone given between the two groups of patients with, and without catch-up growth, but the incidence of acute rejection was higher in the group without catch-up growth. Currently, 18 recipients have functioning grafts and 16 (88.9 per cent) of them are in full-time school or working. From these results it is concluded that kidney transplantation is the first feasible manoeuvre for those children with chronic renal failure and it should be performed as soon an possible in order to preserve their growth activity.