Renal Transplantation in Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

With increasing frequency, renal transplantation has been used to treat uremic diabetics. At this center, during 1981,28% of all cadaveric transplants were performed in diabetics. The one-year patient and graft survival in the 36 diabetics, who had such transplants in this unit (85% and 54% respectively) is lower than in non-diabetic cadaveric recipients, chiefly because of increased mortality and allograft rejection among the diabetics. A major cause of morbidity and mortality is severe progressive vascular disease. In spite of these limitations, nephrologists should consider renal transplantation early in uremic diabetics before they develop life-threatening or disabling complications. Successful transplantation appears to stabilize or improve the non-vascular complications and thus, enhance the quality of life for diabetics with end-stage renal disease.