New concepts in organ transplantation

Major progress has been made in clinical transplantation over recent years due to close cooperation between clinical specialists and academic investigators. High success rates are evident by longer patient and graft survivals. Treatment procedures have been integrated into fixed protocols utilizing new chemical immunosuppressive reagents that have improved the management of transplanted patients. Further developments in organ transplantation through better surgical techniques have allowed grafts of pancreas, lungs, and intestine. Current transplant medicine has, however, its limitations, especially in the context of the donor organ shortage, the toxicity of immunosuppressive drugs, the chronic rejection activity, and the inability to produce a state of immunologic tolerance. This paper sought to review new concepts in organ transplantation, especially concerning immunologic tolerance and the organ donor shortage.