CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF EARLY ROUTINE ALLOGRAFT BIOPSY IN KIDNEY TRANSPLANTATION / 解放军医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Six five renal graft biopsies were performed routinely in 36 renal transplantation patients with normal renal function 1 and 3 months after transplantation. All the patients were given the immunosuppressive regimen of cyclosporine A (CsA), prednisone (Pred), azathioprine (Aza) and Tripterygium Wilfordii Hook (TW). The histological diagnosis of allograft biopsy was made according to the Banff schema. In 18 45% of the biopsies (12/65), early subclinical rejection or borderline changes were found. There was a significant difference for different dosages of TW, but no difference for the dosages of CsA, Pred and Aza intravenous between patients with pathological changes and those without. The patients with early subclinical rejection or borderline changes, methylpredisolone was given in bolus, followed by the adjustment of immunosuppressive regimens. With this treatment, there was no difference in 5 year survival rate between them and those with normal renal allograft biopsy findings. The routine allograft biopsy helps discover early subclinical rejection and borderline changes in patients with renal transplantation, and beneficial for adjustment of immunosuppressive therapy.