Photo: RODGER BOSCH / AFP / Getty Images
The first human being to receive a pig heart transplant died two months after the groundbreaking surgery.
The sick heart of David Bennett, native of Maryland, was replaced by that of a genetically modified pig on January 7 at the University Medical Center of Maryland in Baltimore.
RIP to David Bennett, the man who got the first pig heart transplant. I have fought hard to the end. I really do hope that safe animal to human transplants will be possible one day. Remember, all the safe medical procedures we have now were once in testing form like this. pic.twitter.com/NReCA5fBq2— BC Harbin (@bc_harbin) March 9, 2022
However , two months after his groundbreaking transplant surgery, Bennett, aged 57, died Tuesday afternoon, reported the New York Times.
Bennett had serious heart disease and agreed to receive the experimental pig’s heart after being rejected on several lists waiting to receive a human heart.
It is not clear if his death was the result of the foreign organ.
“No obvious cause was identified at the time of his death,” a hospital spokeswoman told the newspaper.
The Hospital officials declined to comment further on the cause of death, because doctors had not yet performed a thorough examination.
The doctor. Bartley Griffith, the surgeon who performed the transplant, said the hospital staff was “devastated” by Bennett’s death.
“He showed to be a brave and noble patient who fought to the end,” Dr. Griffith told the outlet.
“Mr. Bennett became known for millions of people around the world for their courage and strong will to live”.
Bennett’s son praised the hospital for offering the last-minute experiment and said the family hoped he would help in the effort. to end the organ shortage.
“We are grateful for every groundbreaking moment, every crazy dream, every sleepless night that was spent to this historic effort,” David Bennett Jr. said in a statement issued by the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
“We hope that this story may be the beginning of hope and not the end”.
At the time, the experimental surgery, which took seven hours to complete, led doctors at the medical center to confirm that the procedure demonstrated that a heart from a genetically modified animal can function in the human body without being immediately rejected.
In a statement obtained a day before the surgery, Bennett said the transplant was from “life or death”.
“I want to live. I know it’s a shot in the dark, but it’s my last option.”
The experimental surgery was performed because there is an ongoing organ shortage crisis.
His son told the media outlet that his father was not eligible for a human heart transplant, and that this was his only option for a chance at life, even though it was not guaranteed to help.
Bennett’s transplant was initially deemed successful after the doctor revealed that he was breathing on his own, while he was connected to a cardiopulmonary bypass machine three days after the operation.
The pig heart used in the procedure underwent a gene editing process to remove a sugar in its cells that is known to organ rejection.
The FDA gave the green light to surgery under an emergency “compassionate use” authorization, as Bennett’s condition was life-threatening and no other option could help save him.
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