Photo: EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
A 57-year-old man has become the first successful recipient of a genetically-modified pig heart.
Last week, surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center performed the first-of-its-kind procedure on Maryland resident David Bennett, who the university saidwas out of other options.
Bennett was diagnosed with a terminal heart disease and had been hospitalized and bedridden for several weeks after being “deemed ineligible” for a traditional heart transplant.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization for the surgery under its compassionate use provision on New Year’s Eve.
David Bennett Sr. (right).EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
According to researchers, the procedure required 10 unique gene edits to the pig heart in order to prevent the rejection of the organ once transplanted into the human body.
“This was a breakthrough surgery and brings us one step closer to solving the organ shortage crisis. There are simply not enough donor human hearts available to meet the long list of potential recipients,” Dr. Bartley Griffith, who performed the surgery, said in a statement. “We are proceeding cautiously, but we are also optimistic that this first-in-the-world surgery will provide an important new option for patients in the future.”
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Three days after the surgery, the university medical center said Monday that Bennett is doing well, and he will continue to be monitored in the coming weeks to ensure the organ isn’t rejected.
Doctors with the pig heart.EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“It’s working and it looks normal,” Griffith told theTimes. “We are thrilled, but we don’t know what tomorrow will bring us. This has never been done before.”
According tostatistics from the federal government, around 110,000 Americans are currently on the waitlist for an organ transplant, and more than 6,000 patients die each year before they are able to receive one.
Transplanting animal organs, also known as xenotransplantation, “could potentially save thousands of lives but does carry a unique set of risks,” the University of Maryland said.
source: people.com
