Editorial Comment ABO-incompatible transplantation—a safe way to perform renal transplantation?

desensitization; immunoadsorption; living kidney donation; plasmapheresis; rituximab The shortage of donor organs, especially in renal transplantation, leads to an increasing discrepancy between the number of end-stage renal disease patients on waiting lists and the number of available deceased donor kidneys. Expansion of the donor pool can be achieved by increasing the numbers of living kidney transplantation and by overcoming the immunological barriers of ABO-incompatibility and HLA-sensitization. Despite a substantial increase in the number of patients, receiving living kidney transplant, otherwise suitable donors have to be rejected due to pre-existing human leuocyte antigen antibodies or ABO-incompatibility. Isoagglutinins (ABO-antibodies