—could be potential cure for kidney failure

People in South Florida who need a pancreas or pancreaskidney transplant — a key procedure that could possibly cure both kidney failure and insulin-dependent diabetes — will soon have another option: Memorial Transplant Institute in Hollywood.

The institute, part of Memorial Healthcare System, the public hospital network in southern Broward County, received approval in April to add pancreas transplants to its pediatric and adult kidney and heart transplant programs. The United Network for Organ Sharing, the nonprofit that operates the country’s organ transplant system under contract with the federal government, approved the measure. It’s the first pancreas transplant program in Broward County.

“For an ideal candidate, someone who has diabetes and requires insulin or is on dialysis or is approaching dialysis, putting a kidney and pancreas transplant together is basically a complete cure for kidney failure,” said Dr. Basit Javaid, a transplant nephrologist and chief of Memorial’s Abdominal Transplant Medicine who will run the program with Dr.

Seyed Ghasemian, chief of the hospital’s Abdominal Transplant Surgery Program.

The pancreas-kidney transplant also could potentially cure someone who has insulin-dependent diabetes, Memorial said.

The Miami Transplant Institute at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, which is staffed with doctors from the University of Miami medical school, also performs pancreas and pancreaskidney transplants. Jackson has done 357 pancreas transplants since 1994, and 714 kidneypancreas transplants since 1990, 18 of which were this year, according to data from the nation’s organ transplant system.

In March, Jackson administrators partially shut down the adult heart transplant program at Miami Transplant institute after complaints arose about patient deaths, infections and other issues. The national organ transplant system signaled to leaders of Jackson Health System, the Miami-Dade public hospital network supported by taxpayers, that it had received complaints warranting an investigation. A Jackson executive last week told the board that oversees Jackson Health a plan was in place to reopen the program, but didn’t elaborate. Jackson’s other transplant programs remain open.

WHEN PANCREAS TRANSPLANTS BEGIN

Memorial expects to start performing pancreas transplant procedures in June, but patients can begin making appointments