Pig heart transplant recipient Lawrence Faucette and his wife, Ann.Photo:Bill Seiler at University of Maryland Medical Center
Bill Seiler at University of Maryland Medical Center
For the second time ever, a genetically-modified pig heart was transplanted into a living human recipient.
The patient, Lawrence Faucette, reportedly had end-stage heart disease and was deemed ineligible for a traditional transplant with a human heart due to his pre-existing peripheral vascular disease and complications with internal bleeding.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization for the surgery under its compassionate use provision on September 15.
“We are once again offering a dying patient a shot at a longer life, and we are incredibly grateful to Mr. Faucette for his bravery and willingness to help advance our knowledge of this field,” Dr. Bartley Griffith — professor of surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who performed the operation — said in a statement.
“My only real hope left is to go with the pig heart, the xenotransplant,” Faucette told the hospital before his surgery. “Dr. Griffith, Dr. Mohiuddin, and their entire staff have been incredible, but nobody knows from this point forward. At least now I have hope, and I have a chance."
Surgeons perform a pig heart transplant into Lawrence Faucette.Mark Teske at University of Maryland School of Medicine
Mark Teske at University of Maryland School of Medicine
The 58-year-old is also “currently breathing on his own, and his heart is functioning well without any assistance from supportive devices.”
In January 2022, the same surgical team at the University of Maryland Medical Center performed the first successful transplant of a genetically-modified pig heart on a local man.
At the time, the recipient David 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.
The transplant was initially deemed successful when Bennett’s body did not immediately reject the new organ. However, the 57-year-old died in March 2022, two months after the procedure, when the transplanted pig heart stopped functioning.
Surgeons prepare for a pig heart transplant into Lawrence Faucette.Deborah Kotz/University of Maryland School of Medicine via AP
Deborah Kotz/University of Maryland School of Medicine via AP
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
At the time, the presence of a porcine virus was also detected in Bennett. Griffith toldThe New York Timesit’s possible the virus played a factor in Bennett’s death and “hitched a ride” into Bennett’s body through the pig. However, he noted there’s no indication the virus caused an infection nor that Bennett’s body refused the organ.
Experts said the pig was evaluated multiple times for the virus, but tests can only detect active versions and not latent ones that can lie dormant without detection.
“This doesn’t really scare us about the future of the field, unless for some reason this one incident is interpreted as a complete failure,” Dr. Griffith said, per the publication. “It is just a learning point. Knowing it was there, we’ll probably be able to avoid it in future.”
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
