Innovative intervention in the pancreas of 19 years saved to the civil

A pancreatic islet autotransplant was successfully performed in the liver of a young man who had undergone ablation of the body and tail of the pancreas after a serious road accident. This is the first case in Italy of autotransplantation of isolated islands as a result of violent trauma with pancreatic laceration. The result is the result of collaboration between the team of the III Division of Surgery of the Spedali Civili of Brescia, led by Guido Alberto Mbadimo Tiberio, Professor of General Surgery at the University of Brescia, and the l & # 39; 39 Unity the pancreatic islets of the ICRC Ospedale San Raffaele, led by Professor Lorenzo Piemonti, director of the San Raffaele Diabetes Research Institute (DRI). A 19-year-old man, in a motorcycle accident, reported a laceration of the pancreas that necessitated laparoscopic removal of the body and tail from the organ, where most of the cells involved in the production of insulin. In a case like this, the risk of developing diabetes shortly after the intervention is 10 to 20%. In the long run, however, the percentage reaches up to 50%, which radically affects the quality of life of the patient. To avoid this risk, the team led by Professor Tiberio contacted the San Raffaele DRI staff: within a few hours, the part of the organ removed arrived at San Raffaele, where researchers from DRIs have been working all night to isolate and purify the beta cells responsible for insulin production. The next day, Professor Piemonti transferred the cells to Brescia for reinfection in the patient's liver, in collaboration with Dr. Marco Di Terlizzi, Spedali Civili interventional radiologist. Once injected into the liver via the portal vein, beta cells take root within a few weeks and resume insulin production, preventing the risk of developing diabetes. Three weeks after the serious accident, the patient was released in excellent general conditions. In particular, the glycemic profile, altered after pancreatectomy, has progressively improved, up to 24-hour absolute normality