Chronic Rejection of Small Bowel Grafts: Pediatric and Adult Study of Risk Factors and Morphologic Progression

One hundred and seventy-two patients underwent small bowel transplantation at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center between May 1990 and August 2001. Thirty-four patients had complete or partial resection of their primary graft and in 15, histologic features of chronic rejection were present in the resected small bowel. This is a descriptive and correlative study of the demographic, perioperative, and histologic features associated with progression to intestinal graft failure. Variable features associated with an increased risk of chronic rejection included acute rejection within the 1st month, increased number and higher grade of acute rejection episodes, isolated small bowel grafts rather than small bowel–liver grafts, older recipient age, non-Caucasian race, and Caucasian to non-Caucasian transplant. The mucosal biopsies showed predictive changes many months before the grafts were excised. The mucosal biopsy diagnosis of chronic vascular rejection can be difficult because the affected vessels, the distal branches of the mesenteric arteries, and the larger arteries of the subserosa and submucosa are not routinely sampled. The possibility of underlying arteriopathy, however, can be inferred in some instances from the presence of secondary mucosal changes in the small bowel biopsies though the “early” changes lack specificity. It is the progression of biopsy findings over time that is predictive of outcome. It is important to recognize the persistence of “late” mucosal changes of chronic rejection so that patients are not subjected to increased immune suppression when it is unlikely to be of significant benefit.