Question:
From Scarsdale, New York, USA:
I was distressed to learn in the New York Times this
past weekend (4/13/97) that people with diabetes aren't considered
well enough for heart transplants. In these days of managed
care, what other forms of discrimination is my son likely
to encounter?
Answer:
Patients with diabetes and heart disease may be candidates for heart
transplants. It's just that the transplant centers are careful in selecting
patients for this procedure, and in the past, they tended to be very leery
of transplanting hearts into diabetes patients.
I have a diabetic patient in my practice who received his heart transplant
(for a disease called idiopathic myocardiopathy) at age 36 about 5 years
ago. He was the first patient with diabetes to have a heart transplant in
our city; we had to do zillions of tests to assure the transplant team that
his general health (and diabetes status) was okay for the major operation.
By the way, he's doing fine the last time I spoke to him.
WWQ
Original posting 17 Apr 97
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