Type 1 Diabetes: Transplant

Type 1 diabetes currently has no cure, but improvements in transplantation technologies have allowed some patients to discontinue insulin injections. Two types of transplant hold promise for type 1 diabetes treatment — a pancreas transplant, in which a whole donor pancreas is implanted; and islet cell transplant, in which cell clusters of several donor pancreases are harvested and injected into a recipient. With both procedures, a lifelong post-transplant regimen of immunosuppressive drugs is required to prevent rejection of the donated pancreatic cells.

Reviewed by Francine Kaufman, MD. 4/08