Effect of the Duration of Chronic Pancreatitis on Pancreas Islet Yield and Metabolic Outcome Following Islet Autotransplantation

Background Total pancreatectomy (TP) with islet autotransplantation (IAT) is a highly selected treatment for severe pain associated with chronic pancreatitis (CP) after exhausting medical and endoscopic therapies. The effect of duration of CP on TP-IAT has not been clarified. Methods Retrospective review of a consecutive cohort undergoing TP-IAT was performed. Patients were classified according to islet dose of <2500 IEQ/kg, 2500 to 5000 IEQ/kg, and >5000 IEQ/kg. Islet yield and metabolic outcomes were compared to disease duration of CP. Results A total of 76 CP patients underwent TP-IAT. Longer disease duration was associated with lower islet yield transplanted (Spearman’s correlation = −0.24; p = 0.04) for total cohort. Highest absolute value of the coefficient was found in patients with hereditary CP when study subjects were classified by the etiology of CP (correlation = −0.72; p = 0.02). Higher islet yields were significantly associated with better metabolic outcomes (7.6 ± 1.1 vs 6.6 ± 1.1 % of HbA1c post-TPIAT in patients with <2500 and >5000 IEQ/kg transplanted, respectively; p = 0.04). Conclusions The duration of CP could affect islet yield and metabolic outcomes. The time since the diagnosis of CP should be considered when selecting patients for islet autotransplantation.