The first person to get a heart transplant from a pig has died in Maryland hospital which conducted the transplantation surgery, as reported on Wednesday, just 2 months after the pioneering procedure.
The 57-year-old David Bennett died on Tuesday at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Doctors did not specify the reason for death, just stating that his condition had been deteriorating for many days.
For decades, doctors have hoped to employ animal organs in life-saving transplants. Bennett, a handyman from Hagerstown, Maryland, was only a candidate for this latest effort because he was on the verge of dying – he was ineligible for a human heart transplant, bedridden and on life support and had exhausted all other possibilities.
After the procedure on January 7, Bennett’s son told The Associated Press that his father knew there was no assurance it would succeed. Attempts at such transplants, known as xenotransplantation, have previously failed due to the fast rejection of the animal organ in the body. The Maryland surgeons utilised a heart from a gene-edited pig, in which scientists removed pig genes that cause hyper-fast rejection and replaced them with human ones to help the body accept the organ.
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The pig heart was initially functional, and the Maryland hospital sent periodic reports indicating that Bennett was steadily recovering. Last month, the hospital posted a video of him enjoying the Super Bowl while working with his physical therapist from his hospital bed.
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