Islet transplantation holds great promise for the treatment of type 1 diabetes (T1DM), as it offers the potential to restore euglycaemia in a reliable manner, protects against hypoglycaemia and glycaemic lability in a way that exogenous insulin administration has thus far been unable to achieve, and is associated with far fewer risks than whole-pancreas transplantation. Moreover, for patients requiring total pancreatectomy for benign disease, isolation of islets from the diseased pancreas with intrahepatic transplantation of autologous islets can prevent or ameliorate postsurgical diabetes and improve quality of life. We, therefore, seek to add this alternative treatment to the therapeutic modalities proposed within our institution.
Key Words
Islet transplantation, Islet auto-transplantation, type 1 diabetes