Possible breakthrough in organ xenotransplantation

[funkervogt]

The surgeons involved in this case have been refining their techniques by installing pig organs in braindead humans who have donated their bodies to science.

New York researchers transplanted pig hearts into two brain-dead people over the last month, the latest in a string of developments in the long quest to one day save human lives with animal organs.

The experiments announced Tuesday come after a historic but failed attempt earlier this year to use a pig’s heart to save a dying Maryland man — sort of a rehearsal before scientists try again in the living.

Among the lessons: Practice with the deceased is important.

“We learned so much from the first one that the second one is much better,” said Dr. Nader Moazami, who led the operations at NYU Langone Health. “You stand there in awe” when the pig heart starts to beat in a human body.

https://apnews.com/article/pig-heart-tr ... 89df976de0

[funkervogt]

Update: A pig kidney surgically implanted in a braindead man functioned as well as a human kidney for two months. It was just removed for careful lab analysis to refine the pig organs further, and the man's family turned off his life support. The sacrifice that they made for science could help save thousands of lives in the near future.

https://apnews.com/article/pig-kidney-t ... 1cc6bc00ef

[funkervogt]

The same team that transplanted the pig heart into a human last year just did it again on a different man. They've learned lessons from the first procedure.

It took over 300 pages of documents filed with FDA, but the Maryland researchers made their case that they'd learned enough from their first attempt last year – even though that patient died for reasons that aren't fully understood – that it made sense to try again.

And Faucette, who retired as a lab technician at the National Institutes of Health, had to agree that he understood the procedure's risks.

In a statement his wife, Ann Faucette, said: "We have no expectations other than hoping for more time together. That could be as simple as sitting on the front porch and having coffee together."

What's different this time: Only after last year's transplant did scientists discover signs of a pig virus lurking inside the heart – and they now have better tests to look for hidden viruses. They also made some medication changes.

Possibly more important, while Faucette has end-stage heart failure and was out of other options, he wasn't as near death as the prior patient.

https://www.wbal.com/article/616915/3/s ... ryland-man

[funkervogt]

A genetically engineered pig kidney has been implanted in a living person through a traditional procedure for the first time.

Richard Slayman, 62, of Weymouth, Mass., who is suffering from end-stage kidney disease, received the organ Saturday in a four-hour procedure, Massachusetts General Hospital announced. He is recovering well and is expected to be discharged soon, the hospital said.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-sho ... transplant