tacrolimus and Diabetic-Angiopathies

The long-term effectiveness of drug-eluting stents (DES) in unselected diabetics in routine practice is currently unclear.. To evaluate the long-term effectiveness of bare metal stents and DES in a real-world setting of diabetic patients, we analyzed 2-year follow-up data from all diabetic patients with de novo lesions enrolled in a prospective Web-based multicenter registry (Registro Regionale Angioplastiche dell'Emilia-Romagna; study period, 2002 to 2004) comprising all 13 hospitals performing percutaneous coronary interventions in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Among the 1648 eligible patients treated with either bare metal stents alone (n=1089) or DES alone (n=559), 27% were insulin dependent and 83% had multivessel coronary disease. At 2 years, use of DES was associated with lower crude incidence of major adverse cardiac advents (all-cause mortality, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and target vessel revascularization) compared with bare metal stents (22.5% versus 28.1%; P=0.01). After propensity score adjustment, only target vessel revascularization appeared significantly lower in the DES group (11.6% versus 15.0%; hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% confidence interval, 0.46 to 0.96; P=0.041). Two-year angiographic stent thrombosis occurred in 1.5% DES patients and 0.7% of the bare-metal-stents patients (P=0.18). At Cox regression analysis, predictors of 2-year major adverse cardiac advents were left ventricular ejection fraction <35%, Charlson comorbidity index, insulin-dependent diabetes, and total lesion length.. In this large, real-world, diabetic population, the use of DES was associated with a moderate reduction in the 2-year risk of target vessel revascularization, a benefit that was limited to non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients. Larger long-term studies are needed to clarify the long-term effectiveness and safety of such devices in diabetic patients.

Topics: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary; Combined Modality Therapy; Comorbidity; Coronary Restenosis; Coronary Stenosis; Coronary Thrombosis; Diabetes Mellitus; Diabetic Angiopathies; Female; Humans; Insulin; Italy; Male; Middle Aged; Myocardial Infarction; Prospective Studies; Registries; Risk Factors; Sirolimus; Stents; Tacrolimus; Treatment Outcome

We report a successful en bloc pancreas and kidney transplantation on a type I diabetic patient with advanced peripheral arterial calcific disease, who had frequent life-threatening episodes of hypoglycemia. The en bloc double organ, created by joining the graft renal artery to the arterial Y graft of the pancreas, was implanted to the proximal left common iliac artery, which was the only site available for an arterial anastomosis. Under appropriate circumstances, this procedure would be an option for potential combined pancreas-kidney transplant recipients with severe calcific arterial disease.

Topics: Adult; Anastomosis, Surgical; Arteriovenous Anastomosis; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1; Diabetic Angiopathies; Female; Graft Rejection; Humans; Iliac Artery; Iliac Vein; Immunosuppressive Agents; Kidney Transplantation; Methylprednisolone; Mycophenolic Acid; Pancreas Transplantation; Postoperative Period; Radionuclide Imaging; Regional Blood Flow; Tacrolimus; Technetium Tc 99m Pentetate