Solid Organ and Composite Organ Transplantation - the dynamic equilibrium of rejection and immunosuppression

AbstractTransplantation remains one of the most discussed surgical specialties within the media, from both a scientific and ethical point of view. In a lifetime transplantation has moved from a speculative experiment to a relatively commonplace lifesaving set of procedures. Within medicine, transplantation offers interaction between some of the sickest patients and the crafts of surgery, clinical immunology, and various medical specialities, as well as being the subject of huge quantities of clinical and basic scientific research. The many high profile advances in transplantation in recent years have been made possible by some very significant developments in the armamentarium of immunosuppressive drugs available for combating the rejection process. In this article, we will briefly discuss the rejection process and the drugs which are used to counter it