Simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation

Author: Mladen Knotek, Mirjana Sabljar Matovinović, Dinko Škegro

Abstract:

Diabetic nephropathy and arterial hypertension are the leading causes of end-stage chronic renal disease (ESRD). Simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation (SPKT) is an option in ESRD patients with diabetes mellitus type I. A successful SPKT obviates the need for dialysis and cures diabetes mellitus. The long-term patient survival following SPKT is significantly better than the survival of patients on dialysis. Although the evidence is not unequivocal, it seems that SPKT prolongs long-term patient survival in comparison with kidney-only transplantation, except in comparison with living donor kidney transplantation. SPKT has been performed in Croatia at “Merkur” University Hospital since 2003. By the end of 2010, 79 SPKT procedures had been performed, thus ranking Croatia second in Europe

Key words:
diabetes mellitus; kidney failure, chronic; kidney transplantation; pancreas transplantation