title: Transcontinental shipping of pancreatic islets for autotransplantation after total pancreatectomy.
abstract: Islet autotransplantation prevents diabetes in some patients after total pancreatectomy. Pancreatectomy is done at most hospitals but islets are prepared at only a few centers. We report a case in which the pancreas was sent to a laboratory half a continent distant from the operative site, and islets were prepared and returned to the original hospital for autotransplantation 16 h after resection. At 10 months posttransplantation, the patient is normoglycemic and insulin independent, with an appropriate insulin secretion in response to glucose. Endocrine function can be retained after pancreatectomy even if the islets are isolated at a remote laboratory, and autotransplantation could be offered to patients without the need to travel. This outcome implies that the typical handling and processing of a pancreas destined to yield an islet allograft should not prevent the recovery of a sufficient number of viable beta cells to establish insulin independence in type 1 diabetic recipients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Rabkin
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Leone
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Sutherland
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahman
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reed
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Papalois
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Wahoff
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016381:Islets of Langerhans Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D009926:Organ Preservation; D010180:Pancreatectomy; D010186:Pancreatic Function Tests; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods*; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose