ABSTRACT
In the past few years there has been a tremendous improvement in short-term renal allograft survival, but no corresponding improvement in the long-term results (Meier-Kriesche et al., 2004). The main cause of late graft failure is represented by the development of progressive graft dysfunction, eventually leading to graft loss. Renal biopsy usually shows fibrosing changes which may be caused by chronic rejection as well as by a number of non-immunological factors. Since these conditions are difficult to differentiate morphologically, the term chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN) has been adopted to indicate progressive graft dysfunction associated with fibrosing changes (Racusen et al., 1999).
