Renal transplantation in patients with diabetes mellitus--revisited.

Sixty-one patients with end-stage renal failure due to diabetic nephropathy received 68 renal allografts from June 1970 to February 1978. Patient and graft survival results equaled those for nondiabetic patients, as reported by the Human Renal Transplant Registry (HRTR). Renal allografts from siblings or pretreated cadaver donors had a significantly longer survival time than did allografts from nonpretreated cadaver donors. It is concluded that renal transplantation with living related and pretreated cadaver donor kidneys continues to be the treatment of choice and is superior to other forms of treatment in the insulin-dependent diabetic patient with end-stage renal disease.