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Although the transplant initially appeared to be growing, the patient showed signs of rejection in recent days, the University of Maryland said.
Published on January 11, 2023 9:32 p.m
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This July 14, 2023 image released by NYU Langone Health in New York shows a team of surgeons transplanting a pig kidney. (JOE CARROTTA/NYU LANGONE HEALTH/AFP)
The second patient in the world who received a heart transplant from a genetically modified pig died six weeks after his operation and a year and a half after the death of the first patient, the American medical center said on Wednesday, November 1. Lawrence Faucette, 58, was unsuitable for a human heart transplant due to advanced heart disease. A pig heart transplant is “the only option,” according to a University of Maryland press release issued Tuesday.
Although the transplant initially appeared to be growing, the patient showed signs of rejection in recent days, the University of Maryland said. In January 2022, the facility carried out the world’s first transplant of a genetically modified pig heart into a human. The transplant had raised great hopes because such xenotransplants (from animals to humans) could solve the shortage of organ donations. There are currently more than 100,000 Americans on the transplant waiting list.
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