About this Research Topic
Kidney transplantation is universally considered the treatment of choice for end-stage renal disease. In the last two decades, significant advances in surgical care and in immunosuppressive therapy have led to a noteworthy reduction in peri-operative mortality and morbidity as well as cell-mediated rejection rates, with graft and patient survival of approximately 90% and 80% at 1 and 5 years, respectively. However, long-term allograft survival has not improved as we would have expected. Currently, the main causes of premature transplant loss are recipient death with allograft function, chronic kidney transplant rejection, polyomavirus-associated nephropathy, and calcineurin-inhibitor nephrotoxicity. Albeit less frequent, late vascular and urological complications such as renal artery stenosis, ureteric stricture or allograft neoplasms also play a role.
The present Research Topic intends to explore the impact of clinical and surgical complications on long-term renal allograft survival as well as to analyse possible prevention and treatment strategies.
Interesting and promising research areas such as xenotransplantation and immune-tolerance protocols for kidney transplant recipients, represent appealing topics that could be addressed in this Research Topic.
Other approaches, that have been successfully adopted for many years with demonstrated important benefits, have recently undergone relevant improvements, i.e. optimizing perfusate through adding peculiar substances during hypothermic machine perfusion or applying regenerative therapies in normothermic machine perfusion.
All these strategies aim at significantly improve long-term outcomes of kidney transplantation, particularly when applied to early phases.
“Medical and Surgical Challenges in Kidney Transplantation” will give specialists involved in the care of renal transplant recipients the opportunity to share their experience or point of view on several relevant topics with the primary aims of improving global knowledge and patients’ outcomes.
Both clinical and technological evolutions will be considered with the option of including narrative reviews, meta-analysis and case reports of particular interest or exceptional didactical value.
The present Research Topic intends to explore the impact of clinical and surgical complications on long-term renal allograft survival as well as to analyse possible prevention and treatment strategies.
Interesting and promising research areas such as xenotransplantation and immune-tolerance protocols for kidney transplant recipients, represent appealing topics that could be addressed in this Research Topic.
Other approaches, that have been successfully adopted for many years with demonstrated important benefits, have recently undergone relevant improvements, i.e. optimizing perfusate through adding peculiar substances during hypothermic machine perfusion or applying regenerative therapies in normothermic machine perfusion.
All these strategies aim at significantly improve long-term outcomes of kidney transplantation, particularly when applied to early phases.
“Medical and Surgical Challenges in Kidney Transplantation” will give specialists involved in the care of renal transplant recipients the opportunity to share their experience or point of view on several relevant topics with the primary aims of improving global knowledge and patients’ outcomes.
Both clinical and technological evolutions will be considered with the option of including narrative reviews, meta-analysis and case reports of particular interest or exceptional didactical value.
Keywords: Kidney transplantation, chronic kidney transplant rejection, surgical complications, immune-tolerance, xeno-transplantation, machine perfusion
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