Expanding the Pancreas Donor Pool

Currently underutilized and in somewhat short supply, the pancreas allograft is a relatively scarce resource. Despite factors such as increased demand, positive changes in organ donation rates, and the liberalization of ‘organ-acceptable’ criteria, there has been a decline in the number of deceased donor pancreas transplants performed in the US. Concomitantly, there has been an increase in similar transplants performed in other countries. While it is understandable that there are a multiplicity of factors to be considered in the evaluation of the potential pancreas allograft donor in an attempt to minimize graft loss and morbidity, it is a simple truth that as a result there are unused transplantable organs. This paper will deal with the multifaceted problem of pancreas underutilization and will discuss strategies that could lead to the expansion of the pancreas donor pool. © 2014, Springer International Publishing AG.