LIFE SAVING PIG
A pig heart saved a man from his death, pig heart is transplanted in a man body, learn about how this unique surgery of heart transplantation took place…
(The Quiver) A pig heart saved a human from dying. This unique heart implantation is conducted by US surgeons who successfully saved a 57- year -old man life. The surgeons chose a genetically modified pig heart for xenotransplantation.
The “historic” procedure took place Friday, the University of Maryland Medical School said in a statement on Monday. While the patient’s prognosis is far from certain, it represents a major milestone for animal to human transplantation. The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization for the surgery on New Year’s Eve, as a last-ditch effort for a patient who was unsuitable for conventional transplant.
The Surgeons taken this way after realising that the patient, David Bennett, in ineligible for human heart transplant and recipient has very poor underlying health. After the implantation the patient is known to be recovering and is being carefully monitored to determine how the new organ performs.
David Bennett said, “It was either die or do this transplant. I want to live. I know it’s a shot in the dark, but it’s my last choice.” Bennett, who has spent the last several months bedridden on a heart-lung bypass machine, added: “I look forward to getting out of bed after I recover.”
“This was a breakthrough surgery and brings us one step closer to solving the organ shortage crisis,” said Bartley Griffith, who surgically transplanted the pig heart.
“The successful procedure provided valuable information to help the medical community improve this potentially life-saving method in future patients,” said Muhammad Mohiuddin, who co-founded the university’s cardiac xenotransplantation program.
Official figures reveal about 110,000 Americans are currently waiting for an organ transplant, and more than 6,000 patients die each year before getting one. To meet demand, doctors have long been interested in so-called xenotransplantation, or cross-species organ donation, with experiments tracing back to the 17th century.
Know how this pig heart transplantation in a human body was made possible
Bennett’s donor pig belonged to a group that had conducted genetic editing procedures.
Three genes that would have led to rejection of pig organs by humans were “knocked out,” as was a gene that would have led to excessive growth of pig heart tissue.
Six human genes responsible for human acceptance were inserted into the genome, for a total of 10 unique gene edits.
The editing was performed by Virginia-based biotech firm Revivicor, which also supplied the pig used in a breakthrough kidney transplant on brain dead patients in New York in October.
The donated organ was kept in an organ-preservation machine ahead of the surgery, and the team also used an experimental new drug made by Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals along with conventional anti-rejection drugs to suppress the immune system.
Today, pig heart valves are widely used in humans, and pig skin is grafted on human burn victims.
Pigs make the ideal donors because of their size, their rapid growth and large litters, and the fact they are already raised as a food source.
“The successful procedure provided valuable information to help the medical community improve this potentially life-saving method in future patients,” said Muhammad Mohiuddin, who co-founded the university’s cardiac xenotransplantation program.
If this xenotransplantation will be a full proof success and no further issue will be monitored in Bennett, such transplantation in future would be useful of saving many patients lives who have these kind of underlying health issues.
