Following the great success of Accommodation in ABO-incompatible Kidney Transplantation published in September 2004, Elsevier is proud to present the publication of ABO-incompatible Organ Transplantation from Japan , also edited by Professor Kota Takahashi. This new publication consists of a collection of invited papers from the International Meeting at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Japan Society for Transplantation held in Niigata on 29 October 2005. Since the donation of cadaver organs is extremely rare in Japan, ironically, ABO-incompatible transplants and partial liver transplants from living donors have become prevalent as a way of expanding the accommodation of transplants. More than 700 ABO-incompatible kidney transplants and over 300 ABO-incompatible liver transplants have been performed in Japan, and the results improve yearly. By performing these transplants, new findings that could not be uncovered through cadaver transplants have been revealed, making significant contributions to immunology and transplantations. The mechanism of antibody-mediated rejection and accommodation that occur with the involvement of ABO blood types has been clarified, and the establishment of treatment strategies for immunosuppressive therapy based on the mechanism has lead to the prevalence and improvement in the results of these transplants. The main topics of ABO-incompatible Organ Transplantation from Japan are: ABO-compatible organ transplantation, humoral rejection, antibody-mediated rejection and accommodation. The manuscript will become the bible of ABO-incompatible transplants, hopefully leading to improvements in transplant results. Therefore, it is an invaluable resource of information for transplant physicians, transplant surgeons, transplant pathologists, immunologists, and pharmacologists.
