Simultaneous transplantation of kidney and duct-ligated segmental pancreas in the rat. En bloc technique using two vascular anastomoses

A new surgical technique of simultaneous kidney and pancreas transplantation is described here. It was used to perform 28 isografts in inbred male Wistar ( RT1y ) rats: 3 animals died within 3 days from early complications and 4 had long-term complications (2 severe pancreatitis and 2 urinary tract complications); 1 animal was killed at 3 months, and its organs were examined histologically. At greater than 4 months after transplantation 2 animals died normoglycemic from undetermined causes. In 3 animals the isografted pancreas was removed at 6 months to assess the effectiveness of the transplant. Currently, 15 animals are alive and normoglycemic greater than 6 months after transplantation. Morphological aspects of simultaneously isografted organs are unchanged when compared with separately transplanted organs. In our opinion this technique provides a useful experimental model to study several technical and immunological problems still present in kidney and pancreas transplantation in diabetic patients.