A pig heart was transplanted as a last resort to a 57-year-old heart patient who was dying at a hospital in the US state of Maryland. It was announced that such an operation was performed for the first time in the world.
Doctors working at the University of Maryland Medical Center announced that the surgery performed on Friday took 7 hours after the special permission, and the patient named David Bennett was in good health.
It is reported that David Bennett said the day before the surgery, “I was either going to die or have this surgery. I know the surgery is a shot in the dark, but this is also my last chance.”
Bennett, who suffered from a fatal heart disease and lost hope for his life for a period, was tied to a special machine in his patient bed for six weeks before surgery.
It is still unknown whether Bennett will have problems in the long term after the surgery.
genetically modified pig
It was announced that the pig, whose heart was transplanted to Bennett, had been genetically modified.
Thus, it was ensured that the pig’s heart could function in the human body without being rejected.
It is hoped that this use of genetically modified animals will help overcome the shortage of organs in transplants.
Every day in the USA, 17 patients waiting for an organ transplant die.
According to OrganDonor.gov, more than 100,000 people in the country are waiting for an organ transplant.
In September, researchers in New York conducted an experiment claiming that pigs could show promise for animal-to-human transplants.
In the experiment, a pig’s kidney was placed in the body of a brain-dead human, and it was explained that the kidney began to work in the body.