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The main purpose of this paper, written by a group of Italian expert transplant surgeons, is to provide clinical support and to help through the decision-making process over pre-transplant surgical procedures in potential kidney recipients, as well as selection of pancreas transplant candidates and perioperative management of kidney recipient. Current topics such as different approaches in minimally invasive donor nephrectomy, methods of graft preservation and treatment of failed allograft were addressed.

Vascular complications remain a major cause of graft loss after pancreatic transplantation. They include vascular thrombosis, pseudoaneurysm, and arteriovenous fistula (AVF). We report a case of an AVF that appeared 3 months after a simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation (SPKT). Doppler ultrasonography followed by magnetic resonance angiography and later angiography provided a definitive diagnosis of a mesenteric AVF. An endovascular approach is becoming the treatment of choice owing to the high risk of graft loss associated with open surgical correction. Microcoils alone, or in conjunction with detachable balloons, are frequently used; still, a new generation of vascular plugs seem to offer a therapeutic option for AVF closure, because it is a "1 shot" procedure that avoids the risk of accidental coil migration. A new-generation Amplatzer Vascular Plug 4 was deployed over the distal arterial branch of the superior mesenteric artery stump, leading to complete exclusion of the AVF and restoring normal vascular flow., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background and Aim: Diabetes mellitus is one of the major causes of end stage renal disease. After 10-15 years from the onset 30% of diabetic patients present nephropathy, and once haemodialysis is required, morbidity is particularly high and long-term survival is lower than in non-diabetic patients. Currently, it is demonstrated that simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation (SPK) shows beneficial effects on patient survival, on some diabetic degenerative complications and on the quality of life. Aim of the work is to report our experience in pancreas transplantation., Methods: From June 1998 to June 2005 17 type I diabetic uremic patients underwent SPK. Donor selection considered hemodynamically stable young patients without cardiac arrest or vasopressor drug excess and with a brief Intensive Care Unit hospitalization. Average donor age was 26 years (range 16-38). The cause of death was trauma for 14 donors (82.4%) and spontaneous cerebral hemorrhage for 3 donors (17.6%). Average pancreas cold ischemic time was 716 minutes (range 320-968)., Results: No patient mortality was observed. No primary or delayed graft function was observed both for pancreas and kidney. Biopsy proved the occurrence of acute rejection episode in one patient (5.8%). Five surgical (29.4%) and 2 medical (11.7%) complications developed. At a median follow-up of 36.4 months (range 4.2-88) patient survival rate was 100%. Pancreas and kidney graft survival rate was 76.5% and 94.1%, respectively. All patients referred an improvement in their quality of life., Conclusions: SPK represents a well-established therapy for uremic type I diabetes mellitus since it improves patient survival in selected recipients. Our experience, as reported in literature, confirm that a successful pancreas transplantation not only brings the recipient back to normal glycemic levels, but it also improves the patient's quality of life by stabilizing some of the secondary complications of diabetes.

Pseudoaneurysm associated with an arterioenteric fistula is rare, but its clinical manifestations may represent a dramatic event that involves diagnostic and therapeutic problems. We report a case of an arterioduodenal fistula related to a ruptured pseudoaneurysm after simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation (SPK) with massive gastrointestinal hemorrhage treated by embolization of the Y graft. A 51-year-old man with type I diabetes and end-stage renal disease underwent SPK. No rejection episodes were documented; the patient was discharged with normal pancreatic and renal function. Two months later the patient was readmitted for an episode of massive lower digestive bleeding and hypotension. The Y-graft was embolized in order to obtain a prompt arrest of the bleeding. The procedure was successful and the patient progressively recovered. Once the hypovolemia was completely corrected, the graft was removed. An arterioenteric fistula between donor mesenteric artery and duodenum was confirmed. Few reports exist in the literature regarding the development of a pseudoaneurysm after pancreas transplantation. To our best knowledge only one case of pseudoaneurysm rupture into donor duodenum has been recently published. In our case angiography recognized the site of the pseudoaneurysm and its rupture into donor duodenum. Embolization of the Y-graft appeared the most rapid, simple, and safe approach to obtain the prompt arrest of the massive bleeding. Embolization of the Y-graft may represent a valid option in the presence of life-threatening hemorrhage.

Introduction: This study compared the safety and efficacy of University of Wisconsin solution (UW) and Celsior solution (C) in pancreas transplantation (PTx)., Methods: A retrospective review of 154 PTx performed over a 61-month period included 77 grafts preserved with UW and 77 with C. The two groups were comparable for both donor and recipient characteristics., Results: After a mean cold ischemia time of 624 minutes (range 360 to 945 minutes) for UW versus 672 minutes (range 415 to 1005 minutes) for C (P = NS), no primary endocrine nonfunction occurred. Delayed endocrine function was diagnosed in two grafts in the UW group (2.6%) versus none in the C group (P = NS). After a minimum follow-up of 4 months (mean 26.5 +/- 15.2 months), 22 recipients (UW = 11 vs C = 11; P = NS) required relaparotomy. Overall, 18 pancreata were lost due to either patient death with functioning graft (UW = 4 vs C = 1; P = NS) or graft loss due to other reasons (UW = 8 vs C = 5; P = NS). Actuarial 1- and 5-year patient survival rates were 93.5% and 86.8% for UW compared with 98.7% and 98.7% for C (P = .04). Actuarial graft survival rates at the same times were 88.3% and 75.0% for UW compared with 90.4% and 90.4% for C (P = NS)., Conclusions: Within the range of cold ischemia times reported in this study, UW and C show similar safety and efficacy profiles for PTx.

Background: Although the use of Celsior has been recently described for heart, lung, liver, and kidney transplantation, no data are available on its use for clinical pancreas preservation., Methods: We herein describe the results of 112 pancreas transplants preserved with either University of Wisconsin (UW; (n = 56) or Celsior (n = 56) solution at two Italian transplant centers. The groups were comparable with regard to all donor and recipient characteristics., Results: Mean cold and warm ischemia times were 10.1 +/- 2.2 hours and 37.2 +/- 8.2 minutes for UW compared to 10.8 +/- 2.4 hours and 38.3 +/- 6.7 minutes for Celsior (P = NS). Delayed endocrine pancreas function was recorded in two UW-preserved grafts (3.6%). Actuarial 1-year patient survival was 94.6% for UW as compared with 100% for Celsior (P = NS). Equivalent graft survival figures were 91.0% for UW as compared with 96.4% for Celsior (P = NS)., Conclusions: Within the range of cold ischemia times reported in this study, UW and Celsior solutions have similar safety profiles for pancreas transplantation.