DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF KIDNEY TRANSPLANT REJECTION: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Introduction. Kidney transplantation is the only radical method of treating most terminal stages of chronic renal failure. 
Acute rejection of the transplanted kidney is one of the main and frequently encountered complications in recipients, 
occurring a few days or months after the transplantation, whether from a living or deceased donor, as a manifestation of the 
body's immune response to foreign tissue. 
The aim is to review and analyze the current literature on the diagnosis and treatment of kidney transplant rejection, with 
a focus on acute and hyperacute rejection 
Search strategy: Using Pubmed, Google scholar search engine, all articles that included keywords “kidney 
transplantation” and “rejection”, “donor-specific antibodies” were retrieved. In total 50 search results emerged for the 2014
2024 timeline, the last 10 years. 
Results. Acute rejection of the transplanted kidney results from the immune system recognizing the transplanted organ 
as foreign and mounting an immune response that leads to the rejection and destruction of the organ's cells. As for 
hyperacute rejection, it is caused by pre-formed antibodies that trigger a rejection reaction within the first 72 hours after 
organ transplantation. The manifestations and course of the disease are quite diverse, as are the consequences of 
developing this complication, so early diagnosis and treatment are crucial. 
Conclusion. Despite the existing risk prediction algorithms, these complications occur with alarming regularity, including 
in our country. Combined with imperfect outpatient management practices for recipients and the absence of protocol 
biopsies, these factors directly impact survival rates.