title: [Pancreas and islet transplantations].
abstract: Pancreas transplantation has been established as a treatment option for type I diabetes mellitus with one-year patients survival rate of 91% and one-year graft survival rate of 71%. Simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplantation with the bladder-drainage technique is most frequently performed. The bladder drainage technique makes amylase activity measurement in the urine as well as urine cytology possible, which facilitate a diagnosis of acute rejection. Combination treatment with cyclosporine, azatioprine, steroid and anti-lymphocyte globulin is usually employed for immunosuppression. In addition, FK506 in now available and expected to contribute to better graft survival. In contrast, islet transplantation has not yet achieved satisfactory results. Although a large number of islets can now be obtained from one pancreas, they are not sufficient for stabilizing a diabetic condition and multiple donors are still required. Xeno-transplantation may resolve the problem. Both pancreas and islet transplantation will achieve better results with further advance of transplant techniques including immunosuppressive treatment and diagnostic methods for acute rejection.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Makuuchi
mesh_terms: D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D006801:Humans; D016381:Islets of Langerhans Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D016035:Pancreas Transplantation / Q000379:methods*