A long-term prevention of diabetic nephropathy in a patient with type 1 diabetes after simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplantation

We report a case of type 1 diabetes mellitus who was successfully treated with simultaneous pancreas and kidney (SPK) transplantation and both grafts survived for 16 yr. A 30-yr-old woman underwent SPK transplantation from a non-heart-beating donor in January 1992. She was treated with combined immunosuppressive therapy consisting of cyclosporine, azathioprine, methylprednisolone, and anti-lymphocyte globulin. Allograft kidney biopsy was performed 10 yr after transplantation to determine the cause of proteinuria, which revealed no recurrence of diabetic nephropathy, suggesting that long-term normalization of glycemic control achieved by successful pancreas transplantation can prevent recurrence of diabetic nephropathy in the kidney allograft.