Kidney Transplantation

Kim, Chan Duck

Abstract

Kidney transplantation is the treatment of choice for end stage renal disease. Successful kidney transplantation improves the quality of life and reduces the mortality risk for most patients, when compared with maintenance dialysis. Recent advances, including immunosuppressants, desensitization treatment for highly sensitized kidney transplant candidates, and better medical care, have resulted in an increase number of transplants with improved outcomes. However, kidney transplant recipients require close follow-up after transplantation since they are on complex immunosuppressive regimens that render them susceptible to infection, malignancy, and cardiovascular disease. The additional obstacles of kidney transplantation include the lack of improvement in long term outcomes, shortage of organs, and multiple co-morbidities due to their underlying chronic kidney disease. To improve the long-term outcome of renal allograft, physicians must be aware in developing newer immunosuppressive regimens, with lower side effects, and reduction of death with functioning graft and chronic allograft dysfunction will be the greatest challenge of all physicians who care for kidney transplant recipients. This review highlights current status of kidney transplantation in Korea, brief transplant immunology, immunologic tests, donor/recipient evaluation, immunosuppressive medications, and complications of kidney transplantation involving rejection, post transplantation infections, malignancy, cardiovascular disease and recurrence of primary disease.