title: Experience with 100 combined pancreatic renal transplantations in a single center.
abstract: Compared to the still increasing number of kidney, liver and heart transplants performed worldwide, pancreas transplantation remains a rare occurrence. At our center a pancreas transplant program was began in late 1979. Since then a total of 113 pancreas transplants were performed in 106 patients, 100 of them also received a kidney from the same donor. The first group consisted of 5 patients with immediate duct occlusion (IDO). In the second group (n = 8) the pancreatic juice of the segmental graft was diverted into a Roux-Y loop of jejunum. Because of two fatal technique-associated complications, delayed duct occlusion was introduced and applied in 15 patients. Because of a prolonged hospitalization period due to local complications, the surgical technique was changed again. From 1987, 72 segmental pancreatic transplants with bladder drainage were performed and finally one whole organ with a duodenal segment was transplanted. Immunosuppression consisted of cyclosporine A, azathioprine and prednisolone from 1984 on. Rejection episodes were treated with a high-dose methylprednisolone on 3 consecutive days and steroid-resistant rejections with ATG. The overall patient survival at 6 years was 80%, renal allograft survival 72% and pancreas graft survival 63% for the entire group. In the delayed duct occlusion group, 1-year patient and kidney graft survival of 93% each and 79% for the pancreas was calculated. One-year survival in the most recent and largest group with bladder drainage was 89% for patients, 86% for the kidney and 75% for the pancreas. Excellent metabolic control was achieved in the majority of patients with mean C-peptide levels and HbA1C levels at 6 months of 1.46 pmol/ml and 5.6%, respectively. Successful pancreas transplants with normalization of carbohydrate metabolism seem to have a beneficial effect on secondary complications of diabetes, contributing to the high degree of rehabilitation of these patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology and Dialysis, University Hospital Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Di Landro
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koenigsrainer
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Oefner
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aichberger
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Romagnoli
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Margreiter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002423:Cause of Death; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000601:surgery*; D003928:Diabetic Nephropathies / Q000601:surgery*; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000276:immunology; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016035:Pancreas Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens