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The occurrence of perforated sigmoid diverticulitis in a renal transplant recipient stimulated a review of colorectal complications in renal allograft recipients. One hundred twenty-five renal transplantations were performed in 113 patients between January 1968 and December 1975. Six patients (5%) were identified as having colorectal complications and five of these patients died as a direct result. Chart analysis of these 113 transplant recipients identified 55 patients as having undergone colonic evaluation (contrast enema, postmortem examination), with seven of these 55 (13%) found to have diverticulosis and major colonic complications eventually developing in four of these seven. Since the mortality from the complications of colorectal diseases in immunosuppressed patients is so prohibitive, in patients with diverticulosis and a previous history suggestive of diverticulitis, consideration should be given to exclusion from transplantation or elective segmental colectomy prior to transplantation.

Renal cell carcinoma may develop in up to 25% of patients with Lindau-von Hippel disease who survive the earlier manifestations of this disease, and this neoplasm may frequently be bilateral. With early detection of such lesions, operative cure of renal cell carcinoma is more likely in these patients. However, some patients may need to undergo bilateral nephrectomy for cure. Such a patient may benefit from cadaver renal transplant in spite of the increased risk of cancer in immunosuppressed patients. We present such a case in a patient with Lindau-von Hippel disease.

A series of 125 renal transplants were analyzed in order to ascertain the characteristics of accelerated allograft rejection. An intense accelerated rejection could be identified within the first five days in 12 of 67 transplants (18%) with good immediate renal function. Accelerated rejection differed from the usual acute rejection reaction by higher fever, increased duration and intensity of the rejection, and increased difficulty in reversing the reaction. Accelerated rejection was reversible and associated with satisfactory renal function one year posttransplant in 58% of patients. Lymphocytotoxic and heterophil antibodies in preoperative serum and eluates of removed kidneys were not present. Contrary to recent reports, accelerated renal allograft rejection is a potentially reversible process and not necessarily due to humoral antibody presensitization.

It seems timely and pertinent to review the long-term follow-up of four patients who were deliberately exposed before transplant to donor antigens in an "enhancement" protocol. Not only were there no adverse effects observed, but three of the four patients never had an identifiable rejection episode. One of the successful allograft recipients had cytotoxic antibodies to his donor's cells. These appear to have been cold, T- and B-cell-reactive antibodies of doubtful significance. Both long-term surviving recipients showed weakness in degree of mitogenesis in mixed culture of donor and recipient peripheral blood mononuclear cells, which does not appear to be related to a macrophage defect but may be related to a lack of active rosette-forming T cells.