Doctors at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) announced that the recipient of the second-ever genetically modified pig's heart transplant has died. This comes just six weeks after US surgeons conducted the groundbreaking transplant.
The deceased Lawrence Faucette (58) suffering from terminal heart disease became the second patient in the world to receive a transplant of a genetically modified pig heart on September 20.
The doctors in a statement said that Faucette had initially made significant progress after his surgery. His transplanted heart performed well, with no signs of rejection during the first month, and he also engaged in physical therapy to regain the ability to walk.
However, “In recent days, his heart began to show initial signs of rejection -- the most significant challenge with traditional transplants involving human organs as well," the doctors said in a statement.
"Despite the medical team’s greatest efforts, Faucette ultimately succumbed on October 30."
“Faucette's last wish was for us to make the most of what we have learned from our experience, so others may be guaranteed a chance for a new heart when a human organ is unavailable,” Bartley P. Griffith, MD, who surgically transplanted the pig heart into both the first and second patient at the hospital, said in a statement.
“We intend to conduct an extensive analysis to identify factors that can be prevented in future transplants, this will allow us to continue to move forward and educate our colleagues in the field on our experience,” Muhammad M. Mohiuddin, Professor of Surgery and Scientific/Program Director of the Cardiac Xenotransplantation Programme at UMSOM.
In January 2022, the first-ever surgery of this kind, involving a genetically modified pig's heart transplant, was performed on a man named David Bennett by the same team of surgeons. Unfortunately, Bennett also died last year, two months after his transplant. He suffered several health complications, and doctors discovered a virus in his new pig heart that normally infects pigs.
(With agency inputs)
