The 2022 International Pancreas Transplant Registry Report—A Review

Abstract

Over the last decades, the number of pancreas transplants has increased all over the world. Since the first pancreas transplant in 1966, patient and graft survival after simultaneous pancreas and kidney as well as after solitary pancreas transplantation have improved significantly. Patient survival at 1 year is >96% in all 3 recipient categories and pancreas graft survival is >90% for simultaneous pancreas and kidney and >86% for solitary transplants. For transplants performed between 2001 and 2010, with >10 years' follow-up time, the half-life (50% graft function) was 13 years for simultaneous pancreas and kidney, almost 10 years for a pancreas after kidney transplant, and >6 years for a pancreas transplant alone. These excellent results are even more astonishing because more high-risk patients were transplanted. The main reasons for improvement in outcome were reductions in technical failures and immunologic graft losses. These decreases were due to better patient and donor selection, standardization of surgical techniques, and superior immunosuppressive protocols.