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• 12 / 07 / 2008

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In a dialogue with Prensa Latina during the Congress Surgery 2008, the expert highlighted that two patients benefitted with this surgery, carried out for the first time 25 months ago and the second one only 60 days ago.

Both patients are in perfect health and none has required to take insulin, he added.

Copo explained they are diabetic type I (insulin-dependent) with severe systemic affection and chronic kidney failure.

Seeing that conventional therapy failed to control the illness, the kidney failure and bad quality of life, doctors opted for the implant, he said.

There are already new cases ready for transplant in 2009, said Copo, who learned the surgical procedure with Doctor David Hickey, of the Beaumont hospital in Dublín, Ireland.

In the world there are 26 thousand persons living with a pancreas-kidney transplant, said the specialist, 20 thousand of them in the United States and the rest in nations like France, Spain, Great Britain, Italy and Australia, of high development.

For Cuba it is almost a heroic deed to assume this type of treatment at no cost at all to the patient. The country´s authorities, however, guarantee whatever necessary to develop the public health system, he affirmed.

The Congress Surgery 2008 concluded after sessions for the last four days at the Havana Convention Center, attended by more than 300 professionals of different countries.

(PL)