One Month Post Pig-Heart Transplant, Patient Focuses on Recovery Without Signs of Organ Rejection

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A month has elapsed since a resident of Maryland became the second individual to undergo a groundbreaking heart transplant, using a pig’s heart as the donor organ. Newly released footage from the hospital indicates that he is diligently following his rehabilitation regimen.

Lawrence Faucette was confronting life-threatening heart failure and was deemed unsuitable for conventional heart transplantation due to additional medical complications. Physicians at the University of Maryland School of Medicine presented him with the option of undergoing this avant-garde surgical procedure.

The first visuals of Faucette post his September 20th transplant were revealed in a hospital video. Physical therapist Chris Wells was captured encouraging him to maintain a positive demeanor while he engaged in strenuous pedaling exercises to build up his physical stamina. “This is going to be challenging, but I’ll manage,” responded Faucette, aged 58, as he labored to breathe yet managed to smile.

Earlier Reports

In a prior effort to extend the life of a critically ill man, surgeons executed the second transplantation of a pig’s heart. This marks him as the second individual to experience such an experimental surgical intervention.

The medical team in Maryland had previously conducted the world’s inaugural transplant using a heart from a genetically engineered pig. The recipient, David Bennett, survived only for two months before the transplant failed for as-yet unexplained reasons, although traces of a porcine virus were subsequently discovered in the organ. The insights gained from this initial procedure informed adjustments made ahead of the second operation, including enhanced viral screenings.

For years, xenotransplants, or transplants from animals to humans, have been unsuccessful due to immediate rejection of the foreign tissue by human immune systems. However, modern attempts are employing genetically modified pigs to render their organs more compatible with human physiology.

According to the hospital video, Faucette’s medical team, led by Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin, the Chief of Cardiac Xenotransplantation in Maryland, confirmed that there have been no indications of organ rejection. “The heart is functioning entirely autonomously,” Dr. Mohiuddin stated.

A spokesperson for the hospital disclosed that Faucette, a resident of Frederick, Maryland, has been able to stand upright, and physical therapists are aiding him in regaining the strength necessary for walking.

The potential for xenotransplants to alleviate the chronic shortage of human organ donors is a subject of keen interest within the scientific community. Currently, over 100,000 individuals are on the national transplant waiting list, primarily for kidneys. Thousands will lose their lives while awaiting a suitable donor. A select number of research groups have been exploring the use of porcine kidneys and hearts in primate models and in cadaveric human trials, with the aim of amassing sufficient data for the Food and Drug Administration to approve formal studies on xenotransplantation.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Pig-heart transplant

More about Pig-heart transplant

• University of Maryland School of Medicine: Cardiac Xenotransplantation Research
• FDA Guidelines on Xenotransplantation
• History and Challenges of Xenotransplantation
• National Organ Transplant Waiting List Statistics
• Genetically Modified Pigs in Organ Transplants