WASHINGTON (AP) — A woman who received a pig kidney transplant — along with a device implanted to keep his heart beating — has died, his surgeon announced Tuesday.
Lisa Pisano was close to death from kidney and heart failure when NYU Langone Health surgeons performed two dramatic surgeries in April. The New Jersey woman initially appeared to be recovering well, but about 47 days later, doctors had to remove the pig’s kidney and put Pisano back on dialysis after the organ was damaged by his heart medications.
Despite dialysis and an implanted heart pump, Pisano was ultimately admitted to hospice care and died on Sunday, NYU Langone transplant surgeon Dr. Robert Montgomery said in a statement.
Montgomery praised Pisano’s bravery in attempting the latest experiment in transferring organs from pigs to humans, called xenotransplantation. The research aims to one day reinforce the dire shortage of transplantable organs.
“Lisa helped bring us closer to realizing a future where someone doesn’t have to die for someone else to live,” Montgomery said. “She will forever be remembered for her courage and good nature.”
In April, Pisano, 54, told the Associated Press that he knew the pig kidney might not work, but “I just took a chance. And you know, worst case scenario, if it didn’t work for me, it could have worked for someone else.”
Pisano was the second patient to receive a kidney from a genetically modified pig. The first, Richard “Rick” Slayman, received the transplant at Massachusetts General Hospital and died in early May, almost two months later. His doctor said he died from pre-existing heart disease, not as a result of the transplant.
More than 100,000 people are on the transplant waiting list in the US, most need a kidney and thousands die waiting. Several biotechnology companies are genetically modifying pigs so that their organs are more human-like and less likely to be destroyed by people’s immune systems.
In addition to the two pig kidney experiments, the University of Maryland also transplanted pig hearts into two men who had no other options; both died within a few months.
Still, what doctors learned from these attempts, along with research on donated bodies, has them hoping to start formal clinical trials next year with patients who aren’t as sick.
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