Treatment of isolated pancreatic islets to reverse pancreatectomy-induced and insulin-dependent type I diabetes in humans: a 6-year experience.

THE SUCCESSFUL isolation and subsequent auto.1 transplantation of islets into pancreatectomized patients has promulgated the possible use of this procedure for the treatment of insulin-dependent type I diabetes (IDOM).1.2 However, our inability to diagnose and promptly treat islet allograft rejection combined with the deleterious effects of currently used immunosuppressive agents have severely limited the clinical utility of this approach. In an attempt to evolve a universally applicable strategy for the surgical treatment of 100M, we at the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute have performed, between January 1990 and May 1996. 42 pancreatic islet cell transplantations. We report herein, the results of our 6-year experience with this procedure in humans and discuss some of the approaches that we have evolved that may assist in the successful engraftment of allotransplanted islets.