The man who had his first successful pig heart transplant two months ago is dead. 57-year-old David Bennett died on Tuesday. His health had deteriorated in the days before.
The 57-year-old, who had a pig heart used as a replacement organ for the first time in the world, is dead. David Bennett died on Tuesday, around two months after the operation, the University Hospital in Baltimore said on Wednesday. His condition started deteriorating a few days ago.
“After it became clear that he would not recover, he received palliative care,” the university hospital said. “He was able to communicate with his family in the last hours of his life.”
Glimmer of hope pig heart surgery
In a milestone in the field of organ transplantation, the man suffering from a life-threatening heart disease had the genetically modified organ implanted in an operation lasting several hours at the beginning of January. After the operation, the patient was still connected to a heart-lung machine for a few days, after which his condition was initially relatively stable, according to the doctors. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization for the procedure.
The operation had given many heart patients hope: “This organ transplant has shown for the first time that the heart of a genetically modified animal can function like a human heart without immediate rejection by the body,” said the University of Maryland at the time. “This was a groundbreaking operation that brings us one step closer to solving the organ shortage crisis,” said Bartley Griffith, the surgeon who performed the operation. “We want to proceed cautiously. But we are also optimistic that this world-first operation will give patients an important new option in the future.” In the USA alone, around 110,000 people are currently waiting for a donor organ. According to official figures, more than 6,000 people die each year before a transplant can take place.
Source: Stern
