In mid-July, the kidney of a brain-dead man had been replaced by a pig kidney. 32 days later, it is still working, the longest period for this type of operation.
A scientific breakthrough that gives hope to patients awaiting organ donation. A pig kidney continues to function 32 days after its transplant into a brain-dead human, the longest period without rejection observed for this type of operation, an American scientific team announced on Wednesday.
These animal-to-human organ transplants, also called xenografts, are being developed in hopes of addressing the chronic shortage of organ donations. More than 100,000 Americans are currently on the waiting list for an organ transplant, of which nearly 88,000 are waiting for a kidney.
The transplant in question took place at NYU Langone Hospital in New York City on July 14 on a brain-dead 57-year-old man. This man was placed on life support after donating his body to science. His kidneys were then removed during an operation, and replaced by the kidney of a genetically modified pig, so that the organ would not be immediately rejected by the human body.
“Not enough organs available”
These 32 days represent “the longest period during which a genetically modified pig kidney has worked in a human”, welcomed the hospital in a press release, indicating that it plans to continue the analyzes for an additional month.
Several xenografts have been performed by this team in recent years, including the world first transplant of a pig kidney into a human, in September 2021.
A porcine heart was also first transplanted into a living human by a University of Maryland hospital in 2022. The man died two months after his operation.
“There just aren’t enough organs available for everyone who needs them,” said Dr. Robert Montgomery, director of NYU Langone’s Transplant Institute. “Far too many people are dying because of the lack of available organs, I strongly believe that xenografts are a viable way to change that.”
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2023-08-16 15:42:00
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