EXPERIENCE WITH 50 KIDNEY-PANCREAS TRANSPLANTS AT THE WASHINGTON HOSPITAL CENTER

The Washington Hospital Center started simultaneous kidney/pancreas (SKP) transplantation in October 1989. Between then and December 31, 1992, 52 SKP transplants were performed. In this report, we analyze our results with the first 50 cases with minimum follow-up of 4 months. All patients had end-stage renal disease secondary to Type I diabetes mellitus. All of our patients received combined-pancreas and kidney transplants using the bladder drainage technique. Immunosuppression included Minnesota antilymphocyte globulin (MALG) or OKT3 induction and cyclosporine A, prednisone and azathioprine maintenance therapy. Follow-up information is available on all patients through March 1, 1993. The 1-year patient survival is 90%; 1-year graft survival is 84% for both the kidney and pancreas, similar to that for 79 diabetic patients receiving only cadaveric kidney transplants. These results demonstrated that simultaneous kidney/pancreas transplantation is safe and effective in treating end-stage renal disease secondary to Type I diabetes mellitus.