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Biopsy shows inflammation but no rejection
My son in law received a kidney transplant 15 years ago at age 20. He recently had some blood work steadily increasing ( he doesn’t know what the blood work was) that indicated a biopsy should be done. The biopsy shows no rejection but does show inflammation. So he is starting steroid therapy this week and having a port inserted for plasma exchange next week. Should we be frantically worried? My daughter is a wreck!
Thank you so much for any info, experiences, prayers that can be shared.
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I had a double lung transplant and have had inflammation without having rejection. The treatment is different, but this is something that the blood work can show earlier than having any side effects. I usually don't tell my family, because I don't want them to worry about something they can't do anything about. For the lungs they do a bronchoscopy and a biopsy and usually that is it. I hope it is the same for your son (nothing really significant).
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1 Reaction@glm777 Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect! Congratulations on your son's kidney transplant, and how long he has had it!
My husband had a kidney transplant 9 years ago, and was part of a clinical study to look at factors for early detection of issues.
I do not have personal experience, what I can surmise is that our bodies do change. While a transplant recipient is typically on anti-rejection medications the balance of their life, there is also the rest of the body going along and aging/becoming compromised. "It's the nature of the beast." It is not unusual to need to change medication dosages/types even years after transplant. Sometimes a new health condition or new treatments can initiate an inflammation on the transplanted organ. Has your son-in-law had anything new happen?
An open and frank discussion with the transplant team will do everyone a great service. Can that be arranged?
Ginger
Thank you for your response Ginger! His team is very involved and they do have a plan-steroids then plasma exchange. If that doesn’t decrease the inflammation, then a few dialysis treatments might be needed. It was just a surprise that this came up after all these years without a problem. But I guess after 16 yrs, I should be thankful that this is the first hiccup! Thank you again!