The first clinical islet isolation procedure in Japan was performed at Sakura National Hospital in 2003, and the first clinical islet transplantation was performed at Kyoto University the following year. Until 2013, all cases of islet transplantation in Japan were performed using non-heart-beating donors. Then, a multi-center clinical trial (CIT-J003) was conducted using a national-research grant from 2012 to 2019. This trial was performed using both non-heart-beating and brain-dead donors. Based on the satisfactory results of this trial, islet transplantation was finally approved as a medical treatment, instead of a research trial, in 2020. Thus, the cost of islet transplantation is currently covered by health insurance in Japan. As seen in pancreas transplantation, only 1 case of living-related partial islet transplantation was also performed in 2005.

Certified facilities

Annual reports