Patient died two months after first pig heart transplant

Created: 03/09/2022Updated: 03/09/2022 17:21

A transplant team in the USA claims to have connected a genetically modified pig heart to a human patient for the first time.

© Tom Jemski/University of Maryland School of Medicine/dpa

The 57-year-old patient made history in medicine.

He was the first person to have a genetically modified pig heart transplanted.

Baltimore - 57-year-old David Bennett is dead. The first patient who received a genetically modified pig heart died on March 8, the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) announced on Wednesday.

"We are devastated by the loss of Mr. Bennett.

He proved to be a brave and noble patient who fought to the end.

We offer our sincere condolences to his family,” said Bartley P. Griffith, MD, who performed the surgical heart transplant for the patient at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), according to a press release.

David Bennett (57) suffered from an incurable heart disease.

The transplantation of the pig heart was the "only" treatment option.

On January 7, 2022, the pig heart was transplanted to the patient.

It beat in his chest for two months.

However, his condition worsened a few days ago.

"After it became clear he would not recover, he received compassionate palliative care.

In his final hours, he was able to communicate with his family," the University of Maryland said.

Pig heart transplantation: Important step in the field of xenotransplantation

The surgeons described the world's first pig heart transplant as a "groundbreaking operation".

After the operation, the transplanted heart functioned very well for several weeks with no signs of rejection.

The patient was able to spend time with his family and received physical therapy.

According to their own statements, scientists have gained invaluable knowledge in the field of xenotransplantation, i.e. the transfer of cells or organs from one species to another.

The team announced further studies in this area.

Many people are waiting for a donor organ - often without a chance.

Making animal organs usable for humans could be a way out of this crisis.

Porcine valves have been successfully used to replace valves in humans for many years.

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The history of xenotransplantation development is long and turbulent.

In the 1980s, the case of Baby Fae made headlines.

The baby, named Stephanie Fae Beauclair, was born with a fatal heart condition and received a baboon heart in California in 1984.

The infant died three weeks after the transplant.

The immune system had rejected the foreign heart.

In October it became known that doctors in New York had attached a pig kidney to a brain-dead person for more than two days.

The organ was connected to the bloodstream outside the body for 54 hours and started to work there “almost immediately” and to form the metabolic product creatinine.