Kidney transplant patient and surgeon advance organ transplantation with groundbreaking technique

In mid-March 2024, surgeons at the Transplant Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston successfully transplanted a genetically modified pig kidney into a 62-year-old man with end-stage renal disease. At the time, the patient was showing signs of kidney failure after receiving a kidney from a human donor five years earlier.

In mid-May, patient Richard “Rick” Suleiman, the first person in the world to receive a pig kidney transplant, died, although there is no clear evidence that his death was a result of the transplant.

The transplant team at Massachusetts General Hospital statement He called Suleiman “a beacon of hope for countless transplant patients around the world” and thanked him for “his faith and willingness to advance the field of xenotransplantation.”

After Suleiman's death, his family explanation One of the reasons he underwent the groundbreaking surgery was “to give hope to the thousands of people who need transplants to survive,” his family said. “His legacy will be one that inspires patients, researchers and medical professionals around the world,” they added.

Because transplantation remains the best treatment for patients with chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal failure, there is an urgent need to increase kidney transplant rates, access and options. United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) report In 2022, 25,498 kidney transplants were performed in the United States, the first year in which kidney transplants exceeded 25,000. However, approximately 13 people die each day while waiting for a kidney transplant. 92,000 people According to the National Kidney Foundation, patients in the United States waiting for a kidney transplant are placed on a national transplant list.

read more About groundbreaking kidney transplant surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital.