International Pancreas Transplant Registry

Abstract

Initial information on pancreas transplantation was provided by an Organ Transplant Registry that was maintained by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This first national transplant registry in the United States ceased to exist on June 30, 1977. During its existence, it received information on 57 pancreas transplants in 55 recipients. At the time of its final report, none of the pancreas grafts was functioning.¹ The NIH felt that the activity level for extrarenal organs was not sufficient to justify the registry’s renewal with the ACS.² Registration of kidney transplants only was begun by the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in 1977. But, pancreas data collection continued in a human pancreas and islet transplant registry that had also been established in 1977 at the University of Minnesota. Information on an additional 45 transplants between 1977 and 1980 were added to the previously reported 57 pancreas transplants.²