Antibody-mediated rejection in lung transplantation: fable, spin, or fact?

The lung transplant community continues to struggle with the diagnosis and management of antibody-mediated rejection. The four diagnostic tenets of donor-specific antibodies, C4d staining, histopathologic changes, and allograft dysfunction, which were largely derived from the early Banff meetings on renal transplantation, have somewhat arbitrarily been applied to lung transplantation. With the passage of time, it is increasingly apparent that merits of these diagnostic pillars are less robust in lung transplantation. In this article, we summarize some of the controversies and challenges surrounding the diagnosis of antibody-mediated rejection in lung transplantation.