The Relationship of the Severity and Category of Acute Rejection With Intimal Arteritis Defined in Banff Classification to Clinical Outcomes.

Background: It is unclear if the category of acute rejection with intimal arteritis (ARV) is relevant to short- and long-term clinical outcomes and if the graft outcomes are affected by the severity of intimal arteritis.

Methods: One hundred forty-eight ARV episodes were reviewed and categorized according to the 2013 Banff criteria of AMR: T cell-mediated rejection with intimal arteritis (v) lesion (TCMRV; n = 78), total antibody-mediated rejection with v lesion (AMRV), which were further divided into suspicious AMRV (n = 37) and AMRV (n = 33). The Banff scores of intimal arteritis (v1, v2 and v3) represented low, moderate, and high ARV severity.

Pathologic characteristics of early or late acute cellular rejection and outcome after kidney transplant.

Objectives: To determine the pathologic features of early- and late-onset acute cellular rejection that may contribute to graft loss after kidney transplant.

Materials And Methods: There were 247 patients who had acute cellular rejection included in the study. The biopsy that showed the highest acute cellular rejection severity was evaluated for each patient (total, 247 biopsies) and classified as early (time of biopsy, ≤ 6 mo) or late (time of biopsy, > 6 mo) acute cellular rejection.

The severity of acute cellular rejection defined by Banff classification is associated with kidney allograft outcomes.

Background: It is unclear if the severity or the timing of acute cellular rejection (ACR) defined by Banff classification 2009 is associated with graft survival.

Methods: Borderline changes, TCMR I (interstitial rejection), and TCMR II/III (vascular rejection) were defined as low, moderate, and high ACR severity, respectively. Approximately 270 patients who had at least one episode of ACR were enrolled, 270 biopsies were chosen which showed the highest ACR severity of each patient and were negative for donor-specific antibodies (DSA), C4d, and microcirculation changes (MC).

The efficacy and safety of cyclosporine reduction in de novo renal allograft patients receiving sirolimus and corticosteroids: results from an open-label comparative study.

This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of a sirolimus, corticosteroid, and cyclosporine reduction regimen in an open-label, 12-month trial of 420 de novo renal allograft recipients at 49 European transplant centers. One month post-transplantation, 357 patients were randomized to receive standard-dose cyclosporine (sCsA, n = 179) or reduced-dose cyclosporine (rCsA, n = 178). All patients also received sirolimus and corticosteroids.

Comparison of first and second kidney transplants from the same deceased donor.

Background: Cold ischaemic time (CIT) may negatively influence graft function, increase the risk of acute rejection, and have adverse effects on graft and patient survival. This holds true especially for expanded criteria donors. As multi-centre studies on the impact of CIT are potentially biased, we performed a retrospective single-centre analysis of both kidneys from the same deceased donor transplanted consecutively into two recipients.

"Old-for-old" cadaveric renal transplantation: surgical findings, perioperative complications and outcome.

Objective: To evaluate the surgical findings and outcome of locally allocated, blood-group-compatible but HLA-unmatched cadaveric kidneys in first renal transplantation of donor/recipient pairs aged 65 years and above (Eurotransplant Senior Program=ESP).

Methods: 26 patients of the study group (donor age 70.4 +/- 3.

Effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition and calcium channel blockade on cardiac apoptosis in rats with 2K1C (two-kidney/one-clip) renovascular hypertension.

Apoptosis plays a role in the regulation of heart mass and architecture, and might contribute to the cardiac remodelling seen in renovascular hypertension. It is not known whether the beneficial effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition or calcium channel blockade on cardiac remodelling are linked to the modulation of apoptosis. To test this hypothesis, we established four groups of rats: (i) sham-operated controls, (ii) a group that underwent the two-kidney/one-clip (2K1C) procedure, (iii) a group with 2K1C treated for 12 weeks with quinapril (6 mg x day(-1) x kg(-1)), and (iv) a group with 2K1C treated for 12 weeks with diltiazem (24 mg x day(-1) x kg(-1)).