Pig heart transplant patient dies in the USA – 01/11/2023 – Health

A heart patient who received a genetically modified pig heart transplant in the United States died on Monday (31), aged 58, the University of Maryland Medical Center announced.

A native of Frederick, Maryland, Lawrence Faucette was the medical center’s second patient to receive a porcine heart transplant. The animal was genetically modified so that its organs were more compatible with the human body, avoiding rejection by the immune system.

The first patient, David Bennett, 57, died last year, two months after the procedure. He developed multiple complications, and traces of a virus that affects pigs were found in his new heart.

Both patients had terminal heart disease when they received the transplanted organs, and neither recovered enough to leave the hospital. According to doctors, the heart received by Bennett did not show any trace of acute rejection — the main risk for transplant patients —, while Faucette’s organ began to show signs of rejection.

Surgeon and scientific director of the cardiac xenotransplantation program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Muhammad Mohiuddin, said Faucette was involved in the treatment and was used to reading and interpreting biopsies.

“Faucette’s dying wish was that we make the best use of what we learned from this experience so that others have a chance to receive a new heart when a human organ is not available,” said Bartley P. Griffith, MD, surgeon in charge. by transplantation.

The transplanted heart functioned well after surgery and had no signs of rejection during the first month. According to the university’s statement, Faucette was undergoing physical therapy with the goal of regaining the ability to walk.

Like Bennett, Faucette was rejected by the transplant program that uses organs from human donors. He was very weakened by advanced heart failure, as well as peripheral vascular disease and other complications.

He entered a terminal condition on September 14, when he was accepted by the University of Maryland Medical Center. Just before surgery, the patient’s heart stopped and he had to be resuscitated.