Long-Term Pancreas Graft Function

As with other solid-organ (kidney, liver, heart) recipients, the number of pancreas recipients with 10-year graft function and beyond is steadily increasing. These recipients enjoy long-term normoglycemic metabolism without the need for multiple daily plasma glucose measurements and insulin injections. As shown in chapter 16, they also benefit from the positive effects of long-term pancreas graft function on the secondary complications of diabetes. Long-term pancreas graft function, therefore, not only improves quality of life (see chapter 17) but also markedly reduces the morbidity and mortality traditionally associated with type 1 diabetes mellitus and its secondary complications. Recipients with long-term function are also a constant reminder that a pancreas transplant, despite numerous improvements in the treatment of diabetes mellitus (see chapter 3), remains the only treatment that normalizes glucose metabolism for as long as the graft functions.