Pain Control, Glucose Control, and Quality of Life in Patients With Chronic Pancreatitis After Total Pancreatectomy With Islet Autotransplantation: A Preliminary Report.

BACKGROUND: Total pancreatectomy (TP) is offered as a last treatment option for pain relief in patients with chronic pancreatitis. Concurrent islets autotransplantation (TP-IAT) may improve glucose control. METHODS: We analyzed results in 20 recent patients who underwent TP-IAT at The University of Chicago. The median observation period was 28 months (2-38). Data were collected prospectively then analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: The number of patients requiring opioids daily for pain control decreased from 16 (80%) prior to surgery to 2 (13%) 1 year after, with only 1 (6.5%) patient experiencing persistent phantom pancreatic pain. Opioid requirements decreased from a median 56.3 (0-240) morphine equivalent dose to 5 (0-130) on day 75 and to 0 (0-30) at 1-year follow up. Five patients (25%) completely stopped insulin support prior to day 75 while maintaining hemoglobin A1c of 5.9% (5-6.3). Eight (53%) patients were insulin free at 1 year with A1c of 6% (5.5-6.8) and a similar rate persisted in next 2 years. For the remaining patients, the more islet function that was preserved, the less insulin they required and A1c was closer to optimal. Quality of Life (QoL) measured by SF36 Physical (PCS) and Mental (MCS) Component Score improved on day 75 (P < .001) and maintained improvement later on. Both PCS and MCS improved regardless of whether patient requires insulin support or not. CONCLUSIONS: Improvements of QoL with pain resolution and good glucose control can be achieved after TP-IAT in properly selected patients with CP and intractable pain, regardless of patient insulin support status.

External Validation of the Newly Developed BETA-2 Scoring System for Pancreatic Islet Graft Function Assessment.

BACKGROUND: BETA-2 score using a single fasting blood sample was developed to estimate beta-cell function after islet transplantation (ITx) and was validated internally by a high ITx volume center (Edmonton). The goal was to validate BETA-2 externally, in our center. METHODS: Areas under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROCs) were obtained to see if beta score or BETA-2 would better detect insulin independence and glucose intolerance. RESULTS: We analyzed values from 48 mixed meal tolerance tests (MMTTs) in 4 ITx recipients with a long-term follow-up to 140 months (LT group) and from 54 MMTTs in 13 short-term group patients (ST group). AUROC for no need for insulin support was 0.776 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.539-1, P = .02) and 0.922 (95% CI 0.848-0.996, P < .001) for beta score and 0.79 (95% CI 0.596-0.983, P = .003) and 0.941 (95% CI 0.86-1, P < .001) for BETA-2, in LT and ST groups, respectively, and did not differ significantly. In LT group BETA-2 score ≥ 13.03 predicted no need for insulin supplementation with sensitivity of 98%, specificity of 50%, positive predictive value (PPV) of 93%, and negative predictive value (NPV) of 75%. In ST group the optimal cutoff was ≥13.63 with sensitivity of 92% and specificity, PPV, and NPV 82% to 95%. For the detection of glucose intolerance BETA-2 cutoffs were <19.43 in LT group and <17.23 in ST group with sensitivity > 76% and specificity, PPV, and NPV > 80% in both groups. CONCLUSION: BETA-2 score was successfully validated externally and is a practical tool allowing for frequent and reliable assessments of islet graft function based on a single fasting blood sample.