In what is dubbed as a ‘first-of-its-kind surgery’, the US surgeons have performed a successful transplant of a ‘porcine’ heart into an adult human with end-stage heart disease.
The 57-year-old Maryland resident with terminal heart disease received a successful transplant of a genetically-modified pig heart and is said to be still doing well three days later.
“It was the only currently available option for the patient,” the University of Maryland Medicine said on Monday (January 10, 2022) after performing the historic surgery.
“This organ transplant demonstrated for the first time that a genetically-modified animal heart can function like a human heart without immediate rejection by the body,” the University said in a statement.
The patient, David Bennett, is currently being monitored over the next days and weeks to determine whether the transplant provides lifesaving benefits.