Background: Simultaneous procurement of pancreas and isolated intestine allografts from the same donor may compromise one graft or both given the shared vasculature between these two organs. This study reports the transplant outcomes for pancreas allografts procured simultaneously with an intestine graft.
Methods: Separate analyses are reported from (1) 10-year US national data obtained from the United Network for Organ Sharing database including all donors from 2000 to 2010 in whom both the pancreas and isolated intestine were procured and transplanted into separate recipients and (2) local, single-center data for all donors of simultaneous pancreas and isolated intestine procurement. Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients reference data are provided for comparison.
Results: Nationally, there were 159 simultaneous pancreas and intestine donors. The mean pancreas transplant graft and patient survival rates for this cohort were 75% and 93%, respectively. There were 34 isolated intestine allografts procured by our center during the study period. There were 14 cases (41%) in which the pancreas was transplanted. The reasons for nontransplantation of the pancreas in the other 20 donors included donor age (n=12), graft quality (n=4), and anatomic or surgical issues (n=4). For the 14 transplanted grafts, 1-year pancreas allograft survival rate was 100%.
Conclusions: These results suggest that pancreas allografts procured simultaneously with an isolated intestine graft, although technically more challenging, do not have significantly inferior survival outcomes.