Link to AST Website

Link to ASTS Website

Guest Editor: Dr. Jonathan Bromberg

Read this Virtual Issue on Islet Transplantation Issues.

This virtual issue of the AJT is focused on islet transplantation with the emphasis on clinical and translational science. The isolation, assessment, and preservation of viable islets continue to represent major hurdles to clinical success; this is the subject of the first grouping of papers which highlights diverse approaches to solving these problems. The second grouping of manuscripts analyzes various techniques for islet implantation, including different anatomic environments and methods to ameliorate the interaction of islets with blood and complement. Clinical outcomes, complications, and immunosuppression, the core of all clinical transplantation, occupy the next three sections, with an emphasis on novel immunosuppressants, including those that may have a role in xenotransplantation. Novel approaches to imaging islets, employing MRI and PET, are listed in the sixth grouping. The last section compiles a number of reports discussing financial and regulatory issues as important variables that influence the ability to perform these transplants. These reports should provide the reader with a comprehensive view of issues in islet transplantation, and the diverse scientific and intellectual paths that are being taken to move the field forward.

Virtual Issue compiled online 20 Jan 2010