Intestinal transplantation: current status and latest developments.

Intestinal transplantation is no longer an experimental procedure and is the treatment of choice for patients with irreversible intestinal failure that cannot be maintained on total parenteral nutrition (TPN). The intestine was a forbidden organ to be transplanted in humans until the 1980s due to its rich lymphoid content that precipitates either host-versus-graft or graft-versus-host alloreactivity