Long-term (>30 months) follow-up of a single successful kidney-islet transplant recipient☆

VV E HAVE PREVIOUSLY reported several factors contributing to the initial success of clinical islet cell transplantation.‘..” Despite improved initial success, longterm insulin independence after either islet after kidney (IAK) or simultaneous islet-kidney (SIK) transplantation has occurred infrequently.4 Investigators are therefore obligated to continuously re-evaluate and update the biochemical and clinical information from those few individuals achieving success. Thus, the present study provides a 3-year update of the clinical and biochemical parameters from a 3%year-old white man with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) of 32 years duration who remains completely insulin independent at 36 months after a 1993 kidney/islet transplant at Washington University Medical Center. This study reports the subjective and objective beneficial effects of long-term insulin independence after islet cell transplantation in this unique patient.