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Last updated: 02/17/2009
Until recently, success rates for this procedure were not promising. With success being defined as not requiring insulin for a full year after transplantation, the success rate from 1998–2000 was only about 14% of patients transplanted. However,...
newer procedures have been achieving at least short-term success rates approaching 80–100%, making the possibility of widespread use of this procedure much more feasible in the near future.
Because of the newness of these procedures, the long-term success rate of these new protocols is not yet known. Graft death is significant risk even years after a successful transplant. The longest reported successful graft using the older protocols was six years. As time goes on, the ability of the graft transplanted using the new protocols and sustained by the new immunosuppressive drug mixtures will be determined.
A third important risk is the long-term use of immunosuppressive drugs by the patient. There is relatively little experience with the long-term use of these drugs, so it is difficult to predict what the exact physical effects long-term immunosuppression may have. Some of the known side effects include high blood pressure, toxicity of the kidneys, and opportunistic infections.
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Islet transplantation is the transplantation of isolated islets from a donor pancreas and into another person. It is an experimental treatment for type 1 diabetes mellitus. Once transplanted, the islets begin to produce insulin, actively regulating the level of glucose in the blood.
Islets are usually infused into the patient's liver,. The patient's body, however, will treat the infused islets just as it would any other introduction of foreign tissue: the immune system will attack the islets as it would a viral infection, leading to the risk of transplant rejection. Thus, the patient needs to undergo treatment involving immunosuppressants, which reduce immune system activity. Recent studies have shown that islet transplantation has progressed to the point that 58% of the patients in one study were insulin independent one year after the operation.
In the period from 1999 to 2004, 471 patients with type 1 diabetes have received islet transplants at 43 institutions worldwide.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islet_cell_transplantation
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Biliary colic is the presenting symptom in 80% of patients with gallstone disease who seek medical care; however, only 10-20% of all individuals with gallstones experience severe gallstone pain.
From: eMedicine
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