Clinical evaluation of equine antithymocyte globulin in recipients of renal allografts: Analysis of survival, renal function, rejection, histocompatibility, and complications.

Equine antithymocyte globulin combined with azathioprine and prednisone as immunosuppressive therapy in 50 transplant recipients prolonged allograft survival and seemed to modify the severity of rejection episodes. Although nine patients died from a variety of causes, only three kidneys were lost to rejection, one of which was hyperacute. There were no serious untoward hematologic or systemic effects caused by the ATG, and all patients completed the course of therapy. Infection, a serious and frequent complication of transplant patients, was encountered no more often than in other transplant series not using ALG. The data pertaining to the clinical value of ATG, although suggestive in terms of its immunosuppressive effects, is still not conclusive; and a definitive answer to this question awaits further evaluation in a series of cadaveric recipients in a randomized-double-blind study.