Kidney transplantation: a brief review

Since the first successful kidney transplant in 1954, results of these transplants have dramatically improved. Given refinements in surgical techniques and perioperative care, combined with superior immunosuppression, the procedure is now the treatment of choice for patients of all ages with ESRD. Acute rejection no longer represents a significant threat to graft loss, and the newer immunosuppressive drugs will likely diminish this problem further. Complications such as sepsis are fewer and more reliably managed with current therapies. Chronic rejection remains a major problem whose incidence has not been significantly altered. This along with a better understanding of the processes that may ultimately lead to graft tolerance will be the major challenges facing the field of renal transplantation as it enters the 21st century.