The UMass Memorial Transplant Program cares for patients who have normal kidney function but need pancreas transplant alone to control blood sugars. The program also offers pancreas after kidney transplants and simultaneous pancreas/kidney transplants to diabetic patients as a surgical alternative for the management of their disease.
Type1 diabetes is a serious disease that can lead to severe complications, including kidney failure, blindness, hardening of the arteries, heart disease and stroke. Scientific studies have demonstrated that good control of blood sugars in the bloodstream lowers the risk of many of these complications. However, despite the efforts to obtain better control of their blood sugars, most diabetic patients cannot do so without severe episodes of low blood sugar, also known as hypoglycemia. Despite good control, many still suffer from painful side effects of diabetes.