Teen Receives Rare Islet Cell Transplant to Relieve Pancreatitis Pain

As a young child, Lilah spent four to five weeks a year in the hospital due to severe pain caused by acute-on-chronic pancreatitis. A team of specialists from University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospitals performed a partial pancreatectomy and islet cell transplant on Lilah. Lilah is the first pediatric patient Northeast Ohio to receive an islet cell transplant.