Transplant Rejection
Transplant rejection occurs when the recipient’s immune response injures a donor organ. It may be silent at first and cannot be diagnosed from symptoms or a catalogue medicine list.
Key points
- Warning signs vary by organ and may include reduced urine, jaundice, breathlessness, graft pain or declining function on routine tests.
- Infection, medicine toxicity, obstruction and other causes can mimic rejection; laboratory tests, imaging and sometimes biopsy distinguish them.
- Immunosuppressants require narrow therapeutic balance: too little risks rejection, while too much raises infection and toxicity.
Catalogue matches do not diagnose rejection or justify changing, stopping or doubling transplant medicines.
How is rejection monitored?
Transplant teams track organ-specific function and medicine concentrations, with imaging or biopsy when indicated. Symptoms may appear late, so scheduled monitoring remains important even when the person feels well.
Why should medicines not be adjusted alone?
Tacrolimus, ciclosporin and mycophenolate mofetil have different roles, interactions and toxicities. Vomiting, missed doses or a new medicine can alter exposure and warrants transplant-team advice. See autoimmune support.
When to seek urgent care
Contact the transplant team urgently for fever, reduced urine, jaundice, graft pain, new breathlessness, rapid swelling, confusion or inability to keep essential medicines down.