Re: Surgeons Create Functioning Pancreas in Patient’s Arm

[Guest guest]

Great job Houston Hospital!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Surgeons Create Functioning Pancreas in

Patient’s Arm

Colleagues, the following is FYI and does not necessarily reflect my own

opinion. I have no further knowledge of the topic. If you do not wish to

receive these posts, set your email filter to filter out any messages

coming from @nutritionucanlivewith.com and the program will remove

anything coming from me.

---------------------------------------------------------

Source: Methodist Hospital, Houston

Released: Mon 22-Sep-2008, 15:05 ET

http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/544564/?sc=dwhn

Surgeons Create Functioning Pancreas in Patient’s Arm

Description

A 55-year-old grandmother is producing insulin on her own after her

islet cells were removed from her pancreas and implanted into her

forearm a few weeks ago at The Methodist Hospital in Houston.

Newswise — A 55-year-old grandmother is producing insulin on her own

after her islet cells were removed from her pancreas and implanted into

her forearm a few weeks ago at The Methodist Hospital in Houston.

After surgeons removed Wanda Prouty’s pancreas, they implanted the islet

cells into her left arm to help prevent brittle diabetes that often

occurs after this surgery. This is the first time this has been done in

North America, and early results are very promising.

Prouty is still taking a small amount of insulin while the transplanted

cells are given time to become fully functional.

Islets, small clusters of cells that produce insulin to regulate blood

sugars, reside in the pancreas. With the total removal of the pancreas

due to chronic pancreatitis, patients lose all islets and their bodies

cannot produce insulin, resulting in an immediate and advanced,

“brittle” stage of type I diabetes.

“In the past, patients who had their pancreases removed had to learn to

manage the resulting brittle diabetes, which comes with a 25 percent

death rate over five years,” said Dr. Craig Fischer, Methodist surgeon

specializing in diseases of the pancreas.

Last month Fischer removed Prouty’s pancreas due to painful chronic

pancreatitis. From the operating room, the pancreas was brought to The

Methodist Hospital’s islet lab, where the islets were extracted, then

Dr. Osama Gaber, head of the transplant division at Methodist, implanted

the islets into the patient's arm, where they will function naturally,

preventing diabetes altogether. This procedure is called an “autologous”

islet transplant because a donor organ is not used, but rather the

patient’s own islets. Islets are typically injected into a patient’s

liver, however this patient had indications of slight liver damage prior

to surgery, so the arm was chosen as a stronger alternative site for the

islets.

“Because The Methodist Hospital opened the region’s only islet lab late

last year, we can now extract insulin-producing islets from the

patient’s own damaged pancreas, inject the islets back into the patient,

and prevent brittle diabetes for this group of patients,” said Dr. Osama

Gaber, director of the Methodist islet lab.

Islet laboratory

The Methodist Hospital opened Houston’s first islet laboratory in late

2007 for patients who suffer from diabetes and other pancreatic

diseases. Islet transplants—the transplantation of cells that produce

insulin from a donor’s pancreas into a patient—offer a promising cure

for diabetes. The lab is among fewer than 25 like it in the nation, and

offers both clinical and research components.

“Islet transplants offer a promising cure for diabetes,” Gaber said. “We

are thrilled to bring a laboratory for this innovative treatment to

Houston.”

The islet is an organelle—or miniature organ—made up of thousands of

cells and microscopic blood vessels. Islets reside in the pancreas and

secrete insulin that is necessary for burning glucose and other sugars

in the body. Islet destruction by immune cells or by loss of pancreatic

tissue leads to insulin deficiencies and diabetes. Diabetic patients can

also develop serious secondary complications including blindness, kidney

failure, heart disease and blood vessel disease.

In addition to clinical treatments, research conducted in the lab will

help advance knowledge about the function of islet cells and their

possibilities for patient care.

For more information on The Methodist Hospital, please visit

http://www.methodisthealth.com.

--

ne Holden, MS, RD

" Ask the Parkinson Dietitian " http://www.parkinson.org/

" Eat well, stay well with Parkinson's disease "

" Parkinson's disease: Guidelines for Medical Nutrition Therapy "

http://www.nutritionucanlivewith.com/

------------------------------------