Transplant Kidney With Acute Humoral Rejection Diagnosed by Needle Core Biopsy—A Case Report With Review of Pathological Morphology

Needle core biopsy is an important procedure used to evaluate transplanted kidneys. By examining the morphological findings, the pathologist can inform the nephrologist of certain findings that help guide the therapeutic management to prolong the life of the transplant kidney. The request for a kidney biopsy is usually decided as soon as signs and symptoms of renal dysfunction are noticed by the nephrologist, and therefore, most biopsies of the transplanted kidneys usually have some type of morphological pathology, which may be minimal because of the acute awareness of early rejection. This review discusses the history of acute antibody-mediated rejection and the morphological findings seen in humor rejection of the transplanted kidney.