Kidney-Pancreas Transplantation

The success of a kidney-pancreas or pancreas transplant depends on appropriate evaluation of the recipient, expertise in the surgical procedures required to transplant the organs and on-going monitoring after transplant to prevent organ rejection or infections.

At Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, one-month, one-year and three-year survival rates are tracked for transplant patients.

Pancreas Transplants

The table below highlights key outcome measurements for pancreas transplants done at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Both the numbers and percentages of pancreas transplant patients surviving one month, one year and three years are shown.

The one-month and one-year survival rates reflect patients receiving their first transplant between January 1, 2009 and June 30, 2011. The three-year survival rates reflect patients receiving their first transplant between July 1, 2006 and December 31, 2008. These data are reported to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients.

* These statistics reflect adult patients age 18+ who were having their first pancreas transplant. Patients who were having other organ transplants at the same time as a kidney transplant (a kidney-pancreas transplant, for example) are not included.

** Observed survival rates use the Kaplan-Meier method to estimate outcomes for patients for whom complete follow-up is not expected. Because different cohorts are followed for each time period, it is possible for the reported three-year survival to exceed one-year survival.

Kidney-Pancreas Transplants

The table below shows both the numbers and percentages of kidney-pancreas transplant patients surviving one month, one year and three years.

In addition, survival rates for kidney-pancreas transplant patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center are also compared to survival rates expected for kidney transplant patients with similar ages and health conditions.

The one-month and one-year survival rates reflect patients receiving their first transplant between January 1, 2009 and June 30, 2011. The three-year survival rates reflect patients receiving their first transplant between July 1, 2006 and December 31, 2008. These data are reported to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients.

* These statistic reflect adults age 18+ who were having their first kidney-pancreas transplant. Patients who were having other organ transplants along with a kidney-pancreas transplant are not included.

** Observed survival rates use the Kaplan-Meier method to estimate outcomes for patients for whom complete follow-up is not expected. Because different cohorts are followed for each time period, it is possible for the reported three-year survival to exceed one-year survival.

*** The survival rate that would be expected for the patients served by the center, given the characteristic mix of the recipient and donor (age, disease and blood type, etc.) and the experience of similar patients in the United States as a whole.

Another important aspect of quality of care in organ transplant surgery is graft survival. This refers to the ability of the transplanted organ to survive without organ rejection occurring.

The table below reflects data on both kidney and pancreas graft survival for transplants done at Cedars-Sinai.

* These statistic reflect adults age 18+ who were having their first kidney-pancreas transplant. Patients who were having other organ transplants along with a kidney-pancreas transplant are not included.

** Observed survival rates use the Kaplan-Meier method to estimate outcomes for patients for whom complete follow-up is not expected. Because different cohorts are followed for each time period, it is possible for the reported three-year survival to exceed one-year survival.

*** The survival rate that would be expected for the patients served by the center, given the characteristic mix of the recipient and donor (age, disease and blood type, etc.) and the experience of similar patients in the United States as a whole.

Patients at high risk for rejection who would have been turned down as pancreas transplant candidates at many centers (or listed for many years awaiting a rare perfect match) were given the opportunity for transplantation by applying a desensitization treatment developed at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. This treatment is called intravenous immunoglobin (IVIG) therapy.

More than half of such candidates underwent desensitization and now enjoy normal blood glucose levels without insulin injections and freedom from dialysis.