February 4, 2011
MEDICAL UNIVERSITY of SOUTH CAROLINA
Vol. 29, No. 23
Islet cell transplant offers promising lifeline
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Autologous Islet Cell Transplant
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What drew me to this field is the need to take care of these patients who are in so much pain.
Patient goes in for surgery to remove the pancreas. An islet cell transplant can help patients who are suffering from the pain of chronic pancreatitis.
The pancreas is put on ice and 2. placed in a special fluid. The organ undergoes a four-
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hour process in the 3. to-five Center for Cellular Therapy’s
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clean lab where specially trained technicians extract insulin-producing islet cells.
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islet cells go into an IV 4. The bag and are infused into the
patient during a procedure done by an interventional radiologist who uses ultrasound to guide a catheter into the main blood vessel in the liver.
5. into the liver where they are
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The islet cells are infused
expected to begin functioning as a miniaturized pancreas, producing and releasing insulin. About 25 to 40 percent of patients who have islet cell transplants will not require insulin treatment. For the remaining patients who are insulin dependent, their diabetes typically is much more easily managed.
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Interventional radiologist Renan Uflacker (right), registered nurses Monica Mallory, center, and Hedy Fagan oversee islet cells being infused into a patient’s liver. by daWN brazell Public Relations
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hrilled that MUSC’s pioneering efforts led to the milestone of the 50th islet cell transplant Jan. 31, David Adams’ mission is to end the suffering of patients with chronic pancreatitis. MUSC holds the distinction of being the second busiest autologous islet cell transplant center in the country, behind the University of Minnesota, which started doing the procedure in the 1970s. MUSC, the only place in the state
Nurse CoordiNator remembered Laura Lail was a ‘shining star’ among the Digestive Disease Center staff.
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to offer the procedure, treated its first patient in March 2009, and performs about 25 cases a year to treat chronic pancreatitis. The condition afflicts thousands of patients and is characterized by debilitating pain and suffering that frequently is unresponsive to traditional medical and surgical treatments, said Adams, M.D. “Chronic pancreatitis causes severe, knifelike pain that is unimaginable to most of us and results in these patients being stigmatized and marginalized by doctors and health care providers, who are frustrated by an See Islet on page 8
Dr. David Adams
WatCh a Video visit http://tinyurl. com/6xb2z4v
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