ABO-Incompatible Kidney Transplantation: Past, Present and Future

Kidney transplantation (KTx) is the treatment of choice for end-stage renal disease [1]. Compared with dialysis it confers a survival advantage, enhances quality of life and is more cost-effective. There are two types of potential donors in renal transplants: deceased and living donors. Transplantation from living donors provides better survival rates in comparison to those from deceased ones [2]. Furthermore, transplantation from living donors could be the solution for the shortage of cadaveric donated organs. Unfortunately, for many years a significant number of potential living donors were rejected due to blood group incompatibility with the recipient. ABO-incompatibility was considered to be an absolute contraindication to transplantation. However, during the last 15years the implementation of new transplant protocols has significantly diminished this barrier and has lead the way for the induction of ABO-incompatible (ABOi) transplantation worldwide.