Solid organ transplantation and vascularized composite allotransplantation: Past and present

Abstract

There has not only been improvements in clinical aspects for vascularized composite allotransplantation, which is new and experimental compared to solid organ transplantation. In this review, we compiled the achievements obtained and the failures after clinical applications, accompanied with the explanations of experimental studies that are supposed to support them or solve their problems. Following these parallel experimental and clinical studies, recipient-donor criteria, rejection staging and rejection preventive treatments were researched as in solid organ transplantation and are still being investigated. In the last 20 years, clinical practices and studies have been very encouraging. While solid organ transplantation is the gold standard treatment for most patients with advanced organ failure, vascularized composite allotransplantation can be considered as a complementary option in cases where it is not possible to remedy the patients with their own tissues in patients with physical and psychosocial deficits after extremity loss. In this review, we examined the differences and similarities in terms of indications, side effects, rejection, patient and graft survival in vascular composite and solid organ allotransplantation, and their development in recent years.