ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Kidney transplantation (KT) is the optimal treatment for end stage renal disease. However, the relative shortage of organs for transplantation (from human leukocyte antigen- or ABO incompatible [ABOi] living donors) has led to ABOi KT as an accepted method to expand the pool of living kidney donors. To date, reports of the outcomes of ABOi KT are limited; therefore this study aims to evaluate the outcomes of ABOi KT in recipients. METHODS: We identified 45 patients who underwent live-donor ABOi KT between February 2007 and November 2011 at Maryknoll Medical Center. All of them were treated according to the scheduled protocol of plasmapheresis with low dose intravenous immunoglobulin, and low dose rituximab- or tacrolimus-based triple immunosuppressant regimens. Clinical parameters and the incidence of rejections in these patients were analyzed. RESULTS: We had three cases (6.6%) of biopsy-proven acute antibody-mediated rejections and one case (2.2%) of acute cellular rejection, all of which were successfully treated. The median follow-up duration was 20 months (range, 2~59). Antibody depletion was scheduled according to baseline anti-ABO antibody titer (tube method: median immunoglobulin G titer/immunoglobulin M titer 64 [range, 8~4,096]/16 [range, 2~256], respectively). Although there was no patient death, one patient lost his graft due to nonadherence to immunosuppressants. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis of ABOi KT has shown excellent and promising outcomes. These practices may therefore represent an acceptable option for expanding the pool of living kidney donors.