ORGAN-TRANSPLANTATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Over the last 30 years, the field of organ transplantation has advance d from an experimental curiosity to an established treatment option fo r patients with irreversible organ failure. Recently developed immunos uppressive drugs, which are becoming available with increasing frequen cy, may finally solve the problem of acute allorejection during the re mainder of the millennium. Graft loss, owing to chronic rejection, and an ever widening gap between recipient and donor numbers (organ short age) remain major problems at the gateway to the next century. Further development of efficacious, but nontoxic immunosuppressive agents, an d induction of immune tolerance and xenotransplantation will be the go als of future developments in the field of organ transplantation.