Feasibility, safety, and efficacy of percutaneous transhepatic injection of beta-cell grafts.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety, feasibility, and clinical efficacy of percutaneous transhepatic injection of beta-cell grafts in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Materials And Methods: Between December 2001 and November 2003, 15 patients with C-peptide-negative type 1 diabetes underwent 31 percutaneous injections for intraportal implantation of beta-cell grafts. Grafts consisted of cultured beta-cell preparations as previously described.

Early and long-term clinical and radiological follow-up results of expanded-polytetrafluoroethylene-covered stent-grafts for transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt procedures.

The purpose of this study was to assess the therapeutic efficacy and immediate and long-term safety of expanded-tetrafluoroethylene covered stent-grafts for transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts in patients with portal hypertension-related complications. A cohort of 56 patients suffering from severe portal hypertension-related complications underwent implantation of an expanded-polytetrafluoroethylene-covered stent-graft. All patients suffered from severe liver cirrhosis graded Child-Pugh A (n=8; 16%), B (n=13; 21%) or C (n=35; 63%).