Richard Suleiman, the world’s first living human to receive a kidney transplant from a pig, has been released from Massachusetts General Hospital and continues to recover at home.
Suleiman, 62, was discharged from the hospital in good condition on Wednesday afternoon, according to his medical team.
In a statement provided by Mass General, Suleiman thanked well-wishers and asked for privacy as he continues to heal.
“Today, this moment when I can leave the hospital in the best health I have experienced in a long time, is the moment I have wanted to come for years,” Suleiman said. “Now it’s real and it’s one of the happiest moments of my life.”
Suleiman, a state transport director from Weymouth, has been battling kidney disease for many years. On March 16, doctors transplanted a genetically engineered pig kidney into a pig’s body, a world first.
“I never thought this would happen in my lifetime,” Dr. Jolene Madsen, director of the Massachusetts General Transplant Center, told WBUR. “We are all overjoyed at the fact that he has done so well and that he will go home with a fully functioning pig kidney.”
Scientists made 69 edits to the kidney to add human genes, remove pig genes that could harm humans, and prevent the transmission of pig viruses.
This surgery is considered a major breakthrough in the world xenograft, which involves transplanting animal organs into humans. Many experts believe that pig organs could help ease the shortage of human donor organs for patients who require transplants for survival.
Nephrologists hope the procedure will eventually eliminate the need for long-term dialysis treatment and usher in a new era for patients with severe kidney disease.
Suleiman was given drugs to prevent his body from rejecting the pig’s organs. But Madsen said there are still unforeseen complications. The patient developed fever, pain, and swelling, indicating that the body’s T cells, part of the immune system, were rejecting the transplanted organ.
Doctors were able to address the problem by giving Suleiman additional anti-rejection drugs, Madsen said.
“We caught it early, treated it quickly and resolved it,” he said. “It caused him to stay in the hospital for a few more days, but we got it under control.”
Suleiman will return to the hospital for weekly check-ups as doctors continue to closely track his progress.
Madsen said his medical team will work with experts across the country to develop a clinical trial to formally study pig organ transplantation into humans.
Doctors in Massachusetts are also investigating pig heart, lung and liver transplants.
Madsen defended this type of research, which has faced opposition from people who oppose animals being kept and killed for potentially benefiting humans.
“We slaughter hundreds of thousands of pigs every day anyway to provide human food,” he said. “We feel it is a moral obligation to try to use animal experiments and animal organs to save human lives.”
