IMMUNOPATHOLOGY OF CARDIAC TRANSPLANT REJECTION

Transplant rejection represents a diverse series of complex immunological events beginning with allorecognition and lymphocyte activation and differentiation, followed by interactions of antibodies and activated lymphocytes with the vascular endothelium and subsequent cellular infiltration into the allograft, and, finally, the inflammatory process leading to tissue injury. This paper reviews how these events contribute to the different types of cardiac transplant rejection, including cardiac allograft vasculopathy.