Current Status of Islet transplantation

Abstract

Islet transplantation is a promising option for the treatment of patients with type 1 diabetes that experience hypoglycemic unawareness despite maximal care. The National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Disease established the Collaborative Islet Transplant Registry(CITR)to compile data from all islet transplant programs in North America from 1999 to the present. Recently, CITR 2012 Annual Report is publically available and can be downloaded at www.citregistry.org. The CITR Annual Report shows that the infusion of 500,000 IEQs over all infusions is associated with improved outcomes. The purpose of this review is to show recent progress in clinical islet transplantation for the treatment of diabetes.