Man gets heart transplant from genetically modified pig heart
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The operation was the first-of-its-kind after the patient was considered not eligible for a conventional heart transplant.
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The transplant was conducted at Baltimore hospital
David Bennett, a 57-year-old from Maryland, US, successfully underwent a heart transplant with a modified pig heart last Friday. The surgery was done at Baltimore Hospital in the US.
According to the report by the University of Maryland Medicine, Bennett had terminal heart disease and after medical professionals deemed him ineligible for a traditional transplant, the pig's heart was the "only available option."
Before his surgery, Bennett said he knew the option was "A shot in the dark," but added that he wanted to live.
The surgery was authorized on December 31 by the FDA.
Pig genes that cause human immune systems to reject pig organs were extracted from the donor pig, and one gene was eliminated to avoid excessive pig heart tissue development.
Six human genes involved in immune acceptance were added.
Bennett will need constant monitoring for weeks to check for immune system issues and ensure the transplant was successful in saving his life.
Surgeon Dr. Bartley P. Griffith expresses that there are "simply not enough donor human hearts available to meet the long list of potential recipients."
Art Caplan, a professor of bioethics at New York University, says the US faces a "terrible" shortage of potential organs for donation.
According to organdonor.gov, 17 people die a day in the US while awaiting an organ transplant.
Caplan feels that animal parts are a viable option for the future, but asks "can we get there with minimal harm to the first volunteers?"
For many years, pig heart valves have been transplanted into people. In October, doctors in New York successfully tried the transplant of a genetically engineered pig kidney into a brain-dead woman.
Although it is still early to deem the operation a full success, Caplan says that this will only prove to be true if Bennett maintains a high quality of life for months to come.
The bioethics professor sheds light on the issue of consent, arguing that consent should not be limited to the patient but to others as well, given that the dying patient is more likely to agree. "You want to have somebody else say, 'Yes, we agree' this isn't a crazy, too risky thing to try.' "
According to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, more than 40,000 transplants were done in 2021.
