Visualization of Early Engraftment in Clinical Islet Transplantation by Positron-Emission Tomography

To the Editor: Although islet transplantation is an option for patients with type 1 diabetes, even those who become insulin-independent after engraftment have islet-graft function that is estimated to be less than 30% of that in a healthy person. 1 In fact, most patients resume insulin treatment within 2 years after transplantation. 2 Islet-cell transplantation is accomplished by embolizing the islets by means of the portal vein into the liver. 3 Because available tools to study transplanted islets have been limited, the liver has been considered a “black box” in clinical islet transplantation. Here we demonstrate the use of scanning with positron-emission tomography . . .