Solid organ transplantation for patients with end organ failure is a well-established, life-saving and life-changing treatment. People with diabetes are particularly prone to developing end stage renal disease, and transplantation is shown to improve quality and quantity of life.
Amongst people who do not have diabetes, the development of diabetes after solid organ transplantation occurs in 10-40% of recipients, and is a marker for increased mortality and morbidity (including graft loss) after transplantation.
ABCD and Renal Association (RA) have formed a Diabetic Nephropathy Clinical Speciality Group, and successfully developed evidence based guidelines in all aspects of management of diabetic kidney disease. Their latest guidance on the detection, management and prevention of Post-Transplant Diabetes Mellitus have just been launched, authored by a team of 18 Diabetologists and Nephrologists. The guidance has been endorsed by Diabetes UK, the British Transplant Society and the Royal College of Physicians of London.
The guidelines offer evidence graded guidance, suggestions for areas of research and audit standards. Lead authors Tahseen Chowdhury, Diabetologist at the Royal London Hospital, and Adnan Sharif, Nephrologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, hope that these guidelines will enable clinicians to manage the condition proactively, and will enable researchers to develop protocols to explore the many unanswered questions that remain concerning this important condition.
