Pancreases Transplant

A pancreas transplant is an organ transplant in which a healthy pancreas (one that can produce insulin) is implanted into a diabetic person. The recipient's native pancreas is left in place, and the donated pancreas is attached in a different location because the pancreas is a vital organ that performs functions necessary in the digestion process. In the event of the new pancreas being rejected, which would quickly lead to life-threatening diabetes, there is a good chance the recipient would not survive very long without the native pancreas, however dysfunctional, still in place. The healthy pancreas comes from a recently deceased donor, or it could be a portion of a pancreas from a living donor.

Pancreas transplants are currently performed on people with insulin-dependent diabetes, which can lead to serious complications. Patients with the most common and lethal form of pancreatic cancer (pancreatic adenomas, which are usually malignant and have a poor prognosis and a high risk of metastasis, as opposed to more treatable pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors or pancreatic insulinomas) are usually ineligible for valuable pancreatic transplants, because the condition has a very high mortality rate and the disease, which is usually highly malignant and detected too late to treat, to reduce surgical complications with enteric or bladder drainage, a better surgical method can be chosen. Immunosuppression progress has improved quality of life after transplantation.

Pancreas transplantation is typically performed on people with type 1 diabetes who have end-stage renal disease, brittle diabetes, and hypoglycemic unawareness. However, certain type 2 diabetics may benefit from a pancreas transplant as well. A type 2 diabetic has a BMI < 30 kg/m2 and a low overall insulin requirement (1 U/kg/day). The vast majority of pancreas transplants (> 90%) are simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplants.

Cost: $350,000