The University of Maryland School of Medicine in the US, reported this Monday that managed to transplant a genetically modified pig heart into a 57-year-old man in a surgery that he described as “historic”.
“This organ transplant showed for the first time that a genetically modified animal heart can work like a human heart without immediate rejection by the body, “the institution detailed in a statement.
The patient, David Bennet, 57 and a resident of Maryland, he underwent surgery three days ago at the Medical Center of said university following suffering an arrhythmia. He is currently under medical surveillance and in good health.
According to the institution, the transplantation of a pig heart “it was the only option available to the patient”, since several hospitals had ruled out the possibility of a conventional transplant.
“Eto die or do this transplant. I want to live. I know it is a shot in the dark, but it is my last option, “said the patient, according to the statement from the University of Maryland.
The United States Food and Drug Administration authorized the operation of Bennet on New Year’s Eve, who he was bedridden for months and that he was informed of the risks of the operation, as it was still an experimental technique.
“It has been a revolutionary surgery and brings us one step closer to solving the organ shortage crisis. There are not enough human donor hearts available to meet the long list of potential recipients, “he said. Bartley Griffith, doctor who operated on man.
About 110,000 Americans are currently waiting for an organ transplant, and more than 6,000 patients die each year before receiving one, according to official data cited by the university.
A New York hospital got last october temporarily transplant the kidney of a genetically modified pig into a human body, another success that, like the one known this Monday, may lead in the future to the fact that the donation of organs from a deceased person is not needed to save the life of another person.
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