The art of classifying renal allograft pathology

This Practice Point commentary discusses Solez et al.'s most recent update to the Banff criteria for the classification of renal transplant pathology. The update focused on various aspects of antibody-mediated rejection, in particular the incorporation of a validated scoring system for peritubular capillary complement 4d staining and inflammation. A new scoring system for interstitial inflammation was also introduced, to be tested over the next 2 years. The report advocates the application of the Banff schema to zero-time and protocol biopsies, and several working groups have been set up to investigate the importance of new research data (including genomics and proteomics) for practical use. This commentary describes the new additions and proposals and places them in perspective