WASHINGTON (AP) — Pig kidney transplants After just 47 days, surgeons were forced to remove the slowly failing organ, forcing the patient back onto dialysis.
Lisa Pisano is the second person to receive a kidney from a gene-edited pig, and NYU Langone Health announced she is in stable condition after undergoing surgery to remove the organ earlier this week.
First patient to receive a pig kidney transplant Richard “Rick” Suleiman The man, who was being treated at Massachusetts General Hospital, died in early May, about two months after the transplant, though doctors there said there was no indication the experimental procedure was to blame.
Pisano's heart and kidneys had failed, so in April doctors performed two dramatic surgeries to implant a mechanical pump to keep her heart beating, and then transplanted a pig kidney.
At first, she appeared to be recovering well, but Dr. Robert Montgomery, who led the transplant, said managing both the heart pump and the new kidney presented “unique challenges.” Her blood pressure was often too low to optimize blood flow to her kidney.
Montgomery said in a statement Friday that her kidneys were failing and doctors could no longer continue administering her immune-suppressing medication.
Although a recent kidney biopsy showed no signs of rejection — a major concern in highly experimental animal-to-human transplants — there had been “significant damage” from lack of blood flow, he said. NYU plans to further study the removed kidney to get a better idea of how it responded in a living human body.
Montgomery noted that while Pisano is on dialysis, she is not a candidate for a life-prolonging heart pump, and her heart condition also makes a traditional kidney transplant impossible.
“We hope that Lisa can return home to her family soon,” he said. “Her strength and courage in the face of adversity motivates us to continue pursuing the hope and possibilities of xenotransplantation.”
Pisano told The Associated Press in April that he knew the pig kidneys might not work but “I just took a chance. Worst case scenario, even if it didn't work for me, maybe it would work for someone else.”
More than 100,000 people are on the transplant waiting list in the United States, most of them people who need kidneys, and thousands die while waiting. To make up for the shortage of organ donations, several biotech companies are genetically modifying pigs to make their organs more human-like and less likely to be destroyed by the human immune system.
Formal studies of these organs are due to begin next year, but in the meantime, a team of researchers from New York University and other institutions have performed temporary transplants using kidneys and hearts from pigs. Brain-dead subjects show promising resultsIn addition to Massachusetts General Hospital's pig kidney transplants, the University of Maryland transplanted pig hearts into two men who had no other options. Both died within a few months..
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