Abdominal Solid Organ Transplantation

This book is a comprehensive and innovative guide to abdominal solid organ transplantation (SOT). It explains the main immunological problems involved in abdominal SOT, reviews indications for liver, kidney, and small bowel transplantation, and provides detailed descriptions of techniques for procurement and transplantation. In addition, technical, infectious, and immunological complications and their treatment are fully described. Special attention is devoted to the indications for and outcomes of combined  kidney-liver and kidney-pancreas transplantation. Clear advice is provided on donor selection and donor safety, and the book concludes by examining medical disease and the risk of solid and hematologic malignancies after transplantation.

Abdominal SOT has become the treatment of choice for various end-stage chronic diseases of the liver, kidney, and foregut. Improved knowledge of immunology, the introduction of new immunosuppressive agents, and advances in surgical techniques have all increased the number of potential candidates and led to better outcomes. It is therefore unsurprising that more and more surgeons, physicians, and scientists, as well as students and nurses, are becoming interested in abdominal SOT. This book will provide all practitioners with an excellent, up-to-date summary of knowledge in the field.

After his board examination in general surgery, Prof. Ercolani (Associate Professor of surgery at the University of Bologna), was a visiting faculty member at the Universities of Nagoya, Tokyo, Miami, Verona and Southampton. Since September 2001, he is a staff member at the Department of Surgery and Transplantation, University of Bologna. On February 2002, he received the authorization from the Italian Ministry of Health to perform liver and kidney transplantation in humans and organ procurements in death donors. He is fully involved in the management of patients carrying hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases, and in the Liver Transplantation program. From January 2004 he is also involved in the Small Bowel Transplantation program and from June 2006, in the activity of emergency surgery. He has performed more than 1500 surgical procedures. He is author of 10 book chapter, and of 161 articles published in International Journals included in the Index Medicus.