Pancreas transplantation

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Intervention:
Pancreas transplantation
ICD-10 code:
ICD-9 code: 52.8
MeSH D016035
Other codes:

A pancreas transplant is an organ transplant that involves implanting a healthy pancreas (one that can produce insulin) into a person who has diabetes. Because the pancreas performs functions necessary in the digestion process, the recipient's native pancreas is left in place, and the donated pancreas attached in a different location. In the event of rejection of the new pancreas, the recipient could not survive without the native pancreas still in place. The healthy pancreas comes from a donor who has just died or it may be a partial pancreas from a living donor. [1] Whole pancreas transplants from living donors are not possible, again because the pancreas is a necessary organ for digestion. At present, pancreas transplants are usually performed in persons with insulin-dependent diabetes who have severe complications.

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[edit] Types

There are three main types of pancreas transplantation:

  • Simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplant (SPK), when the pancreas and kidney are transplanted simultaneously from the same deceased donor.
  • Pancreas-after-kidney transplant (PAK), when a cadaveric, or deceased, donor pancreas transplant is performed after a previous, and different, living or deceased donor kidney transplant.
  • Pancreas transplant alone, for the patient with type 1 diabetes who usually has severe, frequent hypoglycemia, but adequate kidney function.

[edit] Indications

In most cases, pancreas transplantation is performed on individuals with type 1 diabetes with end-stage renal disease The majority of pancreas transplantations (>90%) are simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantions.[2]

[edit] Preservation until implantation

The donor's blood in the pancreatic tissue will be replaced by an ice-cold organ storage solution, such as UW (Viaspan) or HTK until the allograft pancreatic tissue is implanted.

[edit] Complications

Complications immediately after surgery include rejection, thrombosis, pancreatitis and infection.

[edit] Prognosis

The prognosis after pancreas transplantation is very good. Over the recent years, long-term success has improved and risks have decreased. One year after transplantation more than 95% of all patients are still alive and 80-85% of all pancreases are still functional. After transplantation patients need lifelong immunosuppression. Immunosuppression increases the risk for a number of different kinds of infection[3] and cancer.

[edit] History

The first pancreas transplantation was performed in 1966, three years after the first kidney transplantation.[4] A pancreas along with kidney and duodenum was transplanted into a 28-year-old woman and her blood sugar levels decreased immediately after transplantation, but eventually she died three months later from pulmonary embolism. In 1979 the first living-related partial pancreas transplantation was done.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Type 1 cures - pancreas transplants
  2. ^ Gruessner AC, Sutherland DE (2005). "Pancreas transplant outcomes for United States (US) and non-US cases as reported to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) and the International Pancreas Transplant Registry (IPTR) as of June 2004". Clin Transplant 19 (4): 433-55. doi:10.1111/j.1399-0012.2005.00378.x. PMID 16008587. 
  3. ^ Fishman JA, Rubin RH (1998). "Infection in organ-transplant recipients". N Engl J Med 338 (24): 1741-51. doi:10.1056/NEJM199806113382407. PMID 9624195.  Full text
  4. ^ Kelly WD, Lillehei RC, Merkel FK, Idezuki Y, Goetz FC (1967). "Allotransplantation of the pancreas and duodenum along with the kidney in diabetic nephropathy". Surgery 61 (6): 827-37. PMID 5338113. 

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