US surgeons successfully transplants pig heart into 57-year-old human patient

Jan. 11: In a ‘first-of-its-kind surgery’, the US surgeons have performed a successful transplant of a ‘porcine’ heart into an adult human with end-stage heart disease. In A Medical First, US Surgeons Successfully Implant Pig Heart in 57-Year-Old Man. For 57-year-old David Bennett of Maryland, the heart transplant was his last option. It was either die or do this transplant, Bennett, who had been hospitalized and bedridden for the past few months, said before the surgery.

“This organ transplant demonstrated for the first time that a genetically-modified animal heart can function like a human heart without immediate rejection by the body,” the University said in a statement. The patient, David Bennett, is currently being monitored over the next days and weeks to determine whether the transplant provides lifesaving benefits.

University of Maryland School of Medicine Faculty Scientists and Clinicians Perform Historic First Successful #Transplant of Porcine Heart into Adult Human with End-Stage Heart Disease https://t.co/h2GsyFC4t2 pic.twitter.com/0xFA51PsDk

— University of Maryland School of Medicine (@UMmedschool) January 10, 2022

Bartley P Griffith, MD, who surgically transplanted the pig heart, said that this was a breakthrough surgery and brings us one step closer to solving the organ shortage crisis.