Surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have transplanted a genetically-modified pig kidney into a living human patient for the first time.

“Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), a founding member of the Mass General Brigham health care system, announced the world’s first successful transplant of a genetically-edited pig (porcine) kidney into a 62-year-old man living with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD),” Massachusetts General Hospital said in a press release.

“Surgeons from the Mass General Transplant Center conducted the four-hour-long surgery on Saturday, March 16,” it continued.

From the Associated Press:

Massachusetts General Hospital said Thursday that it’s the first time a genetically modified pig kidney has been transplanted into a living person. Previously, pig kidneys have been temporarily transplanted into brain-dead donors. Also, two men received heart transplants from pigs, although both died within months.

The patient, Richard “Rick” Slayman of Weymouth, Massachusetts, is recovering well from the surgery last Saturday and is expected to be discharged soon, doctors said Thursday.

Dr. Tatsuo Kawai, the transplant surgeon, said the team believes the pig kidney will work for at least two years. If it fails, Slayman could go back on dialysis, said kidney specialist Dr. Winfred Williams. He noted that unlike the pig heart recipients who were very sick, Slayman is “actually quite robust.”

Slayman had a prior kidney transplant in 2018 but had to go back on dialysis when it showed signs of failure.

“It really is a groundbreaking milestone,” said Dr. Winfred Williams, the associate chief of the nephrology division at Mass General, according to NBC News. 

“Should the kidney continue to work well and this is a success, I think it represents a breakthrough in a number of different areas,” Williams added.

“Mass General Brigham researchers and clinicians are constantly pushing the boundaries of science to transform medicine and solve significant health issues facing our patients in their daily lives,” said Anne Klibanski, MD, President and CEO, Mass General Brigham.

“Nearly seven decades after the first successful kidney transplant, our clinicians have once again demonstrated our commitment to provide innovative treatments and help ease the burden of disease for our patients and others around the world,” Klibanski added.

Per NBC News:

The first successful pig kidney transplant in a living recipient — a milestone in the field of so-called xenotransplantation, or animal-to-human transplant — could offer hope to the tens of thousands of people in the U.S. on the waiting list for organ transplants, as well as countless others worldwide.

More than 100,000 people in the U.S. are on transplant waiting lists, including about 90,000 who need kidneys, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, a nonprofit group that manages the U.S. organ transplant system.

But xenotransplantation still comes with significant risks. There have been two pig-to-human heart transplants in the U.S.; in both cases, the patients lived for no more than two months.

Slayman’s operation was five days ago. He’s still recovering at Mass General, but Williams said his doctors hope to send him home this weekend, as long as no complications come up.

So far, there have been no signs that his body’s immune system is rejecting the kidney, Williams said.

 

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