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Updated: Jul 13, 2026
A Method for Murine Islet Isolation and Subcapsular Kidney Transplantation
Published on: April 13, 2011
Availability of suitable islet donors in the United States
Paige M Porrett1, Heidi Yeh, Adam Frank
1Department of Surgery, The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Background:
We characterize donor utilization for islet transplantation and estimate the number of recipients who could achieve normoglycemia through islet transplantation if the current donor pool were used.
Methods:
Potential islet donors from all United Network for Organ Sharing donors (1/00-5/04) were identified and categorized into "optimal" islet donors (16-40 yr, body mass index >27 kg/m, hemodynamically stable) or "standard" donors (as traditionally described).
Results:
Of 27,552 potential donors during this period, 6,140 donor pancreata were used for whole organ transplant. Of the remaining 21,412 donors, 10,417 potential islet donors were identified (9260 [88.9%] standard and 1157 [11.1%] optimal donors). Islets from only 218 donors were used for transplant, representing 8.7% of optimal donors and 2.1% of all potential islet donors.
Conclusion:
The widespread use of isolated islets could provide insulin independence for approximately 1000 type I diabetics a year, but at current rates of islet transplant, all recipients could be transplanted with islets from ideal donors.
