Daniel Jirak1,
Frantisek Saudek2, Monika Dezortova1, Peter Girman2,
Vit Herynek1, Jan Kriz2, Zuzana Berkova2,
Klara Zacharovova2, Jan Peregrin1,
1Department of
Diagnostic & Interventional Radiology, Institute for Clinical &
Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic; 2Diabetes Center,
Institute for Clinical & Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic
We tracked iron-labeled pancreatic islets in type-1 diabetic recipients and quantified the islet loss in liver tissue by MR imaging during 6 months after transplantation. Hypointense islet spots and their area in the liver were counted and outlined manually. Function of transplanted islets was confirmed by C-peptide production. A dramatic loss of hypointense spots occurred in the 1st week following the transplantation. Then the number of spots and their area stabilized. Our data suggest that post-transplant MR monitoring might be of importance for assessment of the islet fate following clinical transplantation.