Cardiac surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore have successfully transplanted the heart of a genetically modified pig into a 57-year-old man.
Although it has only been a few days since the seven-hour procedure, it can already be said that the operation carried out in Baltimore has proven that a pig heart can work in a human body without immediate rejection. This is a real breakthrough and a great success for US doctors.
The patient - David Bennett - is feeling well. For now, his chances of long-term survival are unknown. For the time being, his new organ is supported by a mechanical heart-lung.
The FDA gave approval for xenotransplantation on the condition that it would be the absolute last chance to save his life. This was the case - D. Bennett was already in such poor condition that he was ineligible to receive a heart from a deceased donor.
The pig whose heart was used for the transplant was genetically modified - several genes encoding substances that stimulate the recipient's rejection mechanisms were removed.
- The operation will bring the world one step closer to solving the organ shortage crisis, said Dr Bartley P. Griffith, who led the team performing the procedure. - Every day, 17 people die in the US while waiting for a transplant, and there are more than 100,000 patients on the waiting list, the specialist recalled.
In October 2021, surgeons in New York announced that they had successfully transplanted a pig kidney into a human. At the time, the operation was the most advanced experiment in this field of xenotransplantation, but the recipient in this case was a person with known brain death.
Source: medexpress.co.uk