Transplant biopsy? (pancrease)

[Joe Paul]

I read they do routine biopsy's on kidneys. I was wondering if they do the same when you have a pancrease transplant too?

[stauffenberg]

Since kidney biopsies have been demonstrated to damage the kidney, most centers refuse to perform renal biopsies except when absolutely necessary.  With combined kidney and pancreas transplants, each organ can fail independently of the other -- since the kidney is usually attacked only by the general immune reaction against foreign tissue, while the pancreas is attacked by both the reaction against foreign tissue and the autoimmune response that destroyed the pancreatic beta cells at the onset of diabetes -- so biopsies would be no less necessary with a kidney-pancreas transplant than with just one organ transplanted. 

[Katonsdad]

I was transplanted with Kidney and Pancreas in 1999 . I have had 1 rejection episode and they
only biopsied the kidney .  If there was acute rejection and the pancreas stopped working the
Blood sugars would go up and the would check more .  But to treat the kidney you would also
be treating the pancreas ,i would think .

But They have never biopsied the pancreas

Katonsdad

[Joe Paul]

Thanks Guys