The patient, aged 62, suffered from chronic renal failure. He is “recovering well” from the operation that took place less than a week ago, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston said.
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A new step towards a potential solution to the chronic shortage of organ donations. Surgeons have transplanted the kidney of a genetically modified pig into a living patient, a first, an American hospital announced on Thursday March 21.
The patient, aged 62, suffered from chronic renal failure. He “recovering well” of the operation which took place less than a week ago, said Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Kidneys from genetically modified pigs had already been transplanted and worked in brain-dead humans. Living patients have also previously received a heart transplant from a genetically modified pig, but then died. These genetic modifications are carried out in order to reduce the risk of rejection.
“Hope” for “thousands of people”
The doctors “carefully explained to me the pros and cons of the procedure”said the patient, Richard Slayman. “I saw this as a way to not only help me, but also to give hope to thousands of people who need a transplant to survive.”
More than 100,000 people are waiting for an organ transplant in the United States. The kidney is the most commonly required organ. The field of xenografts – transplants of animal organs into humans – has been advancing at great speed in recent years.
The world first of a pig kidney transplant into a brain-dead human was carried out in September 2021, by surgeons at NYU Langone Hospital in New York.
