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Question:
Is a heart transplant feasible for someone with type 1 diabetes?
submitted by Robert from Lumberton, TX on 1/23/2013
Answer:
by Texas Heart Institute cardiovascular surgeon, William E. Cohn, MD
Hey Robert, many patients with type 1 diabetes undergo heart transplantation with good outcome. How any given patient does is mainly dependent on how the other organs are doing. For example, if the patient has kidney or liver failure as a result of diabetes, heart transplant results are not as good. Similarly, old age, lung disease, and other factors can increase heart transplantation risk. Type 1 diabetics whose disease is well controlled with little end-organ dysfunction, however, do about as well as non-diabetic patients. I hope this is helpful.
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Updated January 2013
