A team of surgeons at NYU Langone Health in New York City performed the procedures on two patients who were brain dead but still breathing on life support on June 19 and July 9. In both cases, the person’s body did not reject the heart, and the pigs’ hearts functioned normally without the need for a device – unlike previous patients who had experimented with similar transplants. While the process of xenotransplantation – moving an organ from one species to another – is still in its early stages, experts hope that these kinds of discoveries will help fill the shortage of available organs around the world, especially for children. Surgeons at NYU Langone Health have successfully completed two pig heart xenotransplants into humans. The hearts worked for at least three days without needing any external mechanism. In the photo: The surgical team prepares for a transplant “Our goal is to incorporate the practices used in a standard, everyday heart transplant, only with a non-human organ that will function normally without additional help from untested devices or drugs,” said Dr. Nader Moazami, director of heart transplantation at NYU . statement. “We are looking to confirm that clinical trials can proceed using this new organ offering with the tried and true transplant practices we have perfected.” Transplants were performed in two patients who were already considered medically dead. Their condition makes them valuable to researchers as it allows them to perform experiments that might be too dangerous for a living person, but on a person whose bodily functions are still somewhat functional. Warning: Graphic photos below Both xenotransplant patients were functionally brain dead, allowing doctors to take the risk. In the photo: Doctors perform the transplant on one of the patients After the transplant, the patients’ hearts worked fine without the need for machines and without rejection by the body’s immune system. In the photo: Doctors perform the transplant on one of the patients Previous tests on live humans have resulted in death. Earlier this year, a 57-year-old man who received a pig heart transplant at the University of Maryland died 49 days after the operation after his body rejected the vital organ.
Ex-convict, 57, who became first patient to receive genetically modified pig heart transplant, dies two months later
The first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig died two months after the ground-breaking experiment. David Bennett, 57, of Hagerstown, Maryland, died at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Doctors did not give an exact cause of death, saying only that his condition had begun to deteriorate several days earlier. Bennett’s son praised the hospital for offering the latest experiment, saying the family hoped it would further help efforts to end the organ shortage. Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin, director of cardiac xenotransplantation at the University of Maryland Medical Center, said Bennett’s successful transplant provided great insight into future procedures. “We have gained invaluable insights by learning that the genetically modified pig heart can function well in the human body while the immune system is sufficiently suppressed,” he said in a statement. “We remain optimistic and plan to continue our work in future clinical trials,” he added. Doctors for decades have sought to one day use animal organs for life-saving transplants. For the NYU patients, hearts from pigs that had at least 10 genetic modifications were used. Four of the mutations were described by the surgeons as “knockouts” that prevent the body from rejecting the new organ. The other six help bridge the biological gap between pigs and humans that could cause this kind of rejection. The mutations seem to have succeeded. In both patients, the heart successfully completed a three-day trial without a problem. Unlike previous patients, they didn’t need machines or drugs to start their hearts in the first place. A short trial of just three days is only the beginning of research into these types of mutations, however, and no data is yet available on how these hearts will perform in the long term. “These are the first steps in developing a deep understanding of the mechanistic, molecular, and immunological aspects of xenocardial transplantation and the feasibility of using standard clinical practice and tools to do this,” said Dr. Alex Reyentovich, director of NYU Langone Advanced Heart Failure . program, he said. Experts have long sought a way to meet the world’s huge need for more organs. While campaigns to encourage people to become organ donors when they die have had some success, they are not enough to meet the current need. According to official figures, more than 115,000 people are currently waiting for an organ transplant in America. More than 6,000 people will end up dying a preventable death after not receiving an organ in time. This is especially true for children, who will often need an instrument from another child who is about the same size as them. Children don’t die of any cause very often, however, and the very specific requirements make it even harder for children with chronic conditions to get the transplant they need. The Washington Post reports that 115 children in the US died while waiting for organ transplants in 2018.
