Reporting on Cancer A reporter's guide to the disease. Who we are and what we do. Ohio - New research shows that high blood pressure plays an important role during acute rejection of transplanted kidneys. More than 12,000 people a year in the United States undergo kidney transplantation, and one in every four of them experience acute rejection of the organ. To our surprise, having high blood pressure following transplantation also emerged as a very strong marker for rejection.
Acute rejection is an inflammation of the transplanted kidney.
Early in the history of kidney transplantation, acute rejection was common and usually resulted in almost immediate loss of the organ. If we know a patient has a high risk of acute rejection, we can intensify treatments to prevent it. Medications available today can control acute rejection in 95 percent of cases, although it may cause some loss of function in the transplanted kidney, Cosio said. The study also yielded a second important finding. The research suggests that if we control blood pressure with the right drugs, we may be able to prevent rejection in these cases.