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Optimizing Immunosuppression

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Kidney Transplantation: A Guide to the Care of Kidney Transplant Recipients

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Abstract

While short-term outcomes in kidney transplantation have improved significantly over the last decades, questions remain regarding long-term improvements in graft survival. Whereas long-term graft survival was reported to improve significantly from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, a more recent analysis has shown an equivalent relative risk of graft failure for those transplanted in 1995 through 2000 despite a reduction in acute rejection rates of nearly 50% during that time. Thus, attention has shifted to medication regimens that not only prevent early acute rejection but also take into consideration drug side-effect profiles, ease of use, and effect on long-term graft function.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients for supplying data used to generate Fig. 10.1 within this chapter. The data and analyses reported in the 2007 Annual Report of the US Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network and the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients have been supplied by UNOS and Arbor Research under contract with HHS. The authors alone are responsible for reporting and interpreting these data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program, Department of Nephrology, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA

    Alexander C. Wiseman MD

  2. Department of Nephrology, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA

    James E. Cooper MD

Authors
  1. Alexander C. Wiseman MD
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  2. James E. Cooper MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexander C. Wiseman MD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Scripps Research Institute, N.Torrey Pines Rd. 10550, La Jolla, 92037, USA

    Dianne B. McKay

  2. Division of Transplantation, Sharp Memorial Hospital, Frost Street 7910, San Diego, 92123, USA

    Steven M. Steinberg

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Wiseman, A.C., Cooper, J.E. (2010). Optimizing Immunosuppression. In: McKay, D., Steinberg, S. (eds) Kidney Transplantation: A Guide to the Care of Kidney Transplant Recipients. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1690-7_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1690-7_10

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