Analysis of the results of pancreas transplantation in one transplant center in Russia

Introduction. The total number of pancreas transplantations performed in Russia by the end of 2019 had been 176. There are no detailed reports on the number and results of pancreas transplantation in Russia with analysis of factors that significantly affect outcomes.Material and methods. This article presents a retrospective analysis of 60 pancreas transplantation results, which had been performed from January 2008 to July 2019 at the N.V. Sklifosovsky Research Institute for Emergency Medicine. In addition, the assessment of factors that significantly affect the outcomes of pancreas transplantations was performed.Results. 17 intra-abdominal pancreas transplantations with duodenoejunoanastomosis and 43 retroperitoneal pancreas transplantations with interduodenal anastomosis were performed. In 52 patients, the pancreas graft after vascular reconstruction with a Y-shaped vascular prosthesis was used; in other 8 patients, the pancreas graft with isolated blood flow through the splenic artery was used. The rates of immunological and surgical complications were 23.3% and 56.7%, respectively. In-hospital and 1-year recipient, kidney and pancreas graft survival rates were 88.3%, 86.4%, 83.3% and 86.6%, 84.8%, and 81.7%, respectively. The factors that significantly affected the outcomes of pancreas transplantation were the conversion of the dialysis therapy modality, the development of parapancreatic infection, repeated open surgical interventions, surgical complications of IIIb-IVa severity grades by Clavien-Dindo Classification, some features of basic and induction immunosuppressive therapy.Conclusion. The results of pancreas transplantation at the N.V. Sklifosovsky Research Institute for Emergency Medicine are comparable to the outcomes of pancreas transplantation in most world transplant centers.

Update of pancreas transplantation. Experience of the Hospital Doce de Octubre

Pancreas transplantation (PT) is considered as the only treatment that can convert a diabetic patient in a euglucemic state without the use of insulin or oral antidiabetic drugs. From 1996 to the end of 2016, more than 50,000 PT were performed in USA, and in Spain were performed 1.730 PT during the last 10 years. In this review we will perform an update of PT considering the introduction of several advances in the last years, adding our accumulated experience from the beginning of our program in the year 1995. The first PT was carried out in the Hospital of the University of Minnesota, and from that date several significant improvements have been introduced along the time due to advances in surgical technique in pancreas donors and recipients, perioperative management of patients, and introduction of more potent immunosuppressors able to reduce the rejection rate under 20%. Although PT is a therapy associated with a higher morbidity (pancreas graft thrombosis, systemic and intraabdominal infections, anastomotic leakages, etc.), currently most of the PT teams have obtained a rate of 93% of patient survival at 3-years, and between 78% and 83% of graft survival at 3-years. Additionally, the normal pancreas graft function is associated with an improvement of quality of life and most of complications related to diabetes, without the necessity to treat with antidiabetics drugs or insulin.

Impact of Early Pancreatic Graft Loss on Outcome after Simultaneous Pancreas–Kidney Transplantation (SPKT)—A Landmark Analysis

(1) Background: Simultaneous pancreas–kidney transplantation (SPKT) is a standard therapeutic option for patients with diabetes mellitus type I and kidney failure. Early pancreas allograft failure is a complication potentially associated with worse outcomes. (2) Methods: We performed a landmark analysis to assess the impact of early pancreas graft loss within 3 months on mortality and kidney graft survival over 10 years. This retrospective single-center study included 114 adult patients who underwent an SPKT between 2005 and 2018. (3) Results: Pancreas graft survival rate was 85.1% at 3 months. The main causes of early pancreas graft loss were thrombosis (6.1%), necrosis (2.6%), and pancreatitis (2.6%). Early pancreas graft loss was not associated with reduced patient survival (p = 0.168) or major adverse cerebral or cardiovascular events over 10 years (p = 0.741) compared to patients with functioning pancreas, after 3 months. Moreover, kidney graft function (p = 0.494) and survival (p = 0.461) were not significantly influenced by early pancreas graft loss. (4) Conclusion: In this study, using the landmark analysis technique, early pancreas graft loss within 3 months did not significantly impact patient or kidney graft survival over 10 years.

Pancreas before Kidney Transplant in Diabetic Patients with Uremia

Theoretically, pancreas before kidney transplant (PBK) could also be one of the options for those waiting for both pancreas and kidney grafts, but it has never been reported. This study is to clarify the justification and feasibility of PBK. There were 160 cases of pancreas transplant in this study, including 26 (16%) PBK. Rejection (3.8%) of pancreas graft was significantly lower in PBK group, followed by 16.7% in pancreas after kidney transplant (PAK), 29.8% in simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplant (SPK) and 37.0% in pancreas transplant alone (PTA). There was no chronic rejection in PBK and PAK groups. Fasting blood sugar and serum HbA1c levels after PBK were not significantly different from those by other subgroups. The serum C-peptide levels were significantly higher in PBK group than those by other subgroups. The 5-year pancreas graft survival was 100% for PBK and PAK, 97.0% for SPK and 77.9% for PTA. In conclusion, PBK could be a treatment option for patients with diabetes complicated by end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in terms of surgical risks, endocrine function, and immunological and graft survival outcomes. However, given the inferior patient survival outcome, PBK is still not recommended unless SPK and PAK is not available.