Introduction: Pancreas transplantation

Abstract

The first attempts to transplant pancreatic tissue in diabetic patients were reported at the end of the nineteenth century, so even before the discovery of insulin. Actually, these attempts represented trials in crude insulin replacement therapy, knowing about the at that time unidentified active principle in pancreatic tissue. These efforts failed because of lack of knowledge about vascular surgery and transplantation biology. They became irrelevant after the discovery of the insulin extraction procedure by Banting and Best.