As of October 30, 2014, new policies are in place to allocate pancreas and kidney-pancreas transplants. The revisions are intended to increase access to transplantation for more than 3,000 candidates currently listed for these organs and enhance the efficiency of the allocation system.
Under the new system, offers of pancreas-alone and simultaneous kidney-pancreas (SPK) transplants will be allocated separately from kidney-only offers. Previous allocation policy did not specify how SPK offers should be allocated consistently on a national basis. This could result in inequities in access based on how many SPK candidates were listed in a local allocation area along with kidney-only candidates.
Pancreas-alone and SPK candidates will now be combined onto a single allocation list. This will reduce the complexity of organ offers and help optimize access to transplantation for pancreas candidates without adversely affecting kidney-only candidates.
The revised policies also clarify medical criteria for SPK candidates age 18 or older to begin accruing waiting time priority. Candidates can begin accruing waiting time when they reach certain objective measures of kidney dysfunction and diabetes status. (The qualifying criteria do not apply to candidates who are younger than age 18 at the time of registration.) Candidates who do not meet the SPK qualifying criteria may still be eligible to receive waiting time for a pancreas-alone or kidney-alone transplant.
