New Delhi: The First time in medical history, doctors transplanted a pig heart into a patient in a last-ditch effort to save his life and a Maryland hospital. Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center say – the transplant showed that a heart from a genetically modified animal can function in the human body without immediate rejection.
Son of the patient said that “The patient, David Bennett, a 57-year-old Maryland handyman, knew there was no guarantee the experiment would work but he was dying, ineligible for a human heart transplant and had no other option.” “It was either die or do this transplant. I want to live. I know its a shot in the dark, but it’s my last choice,” Bennett said a day before the surgery.
On Monday, Bennett was breathing on his own while still connected to a heart-lung machine to help his new heart. The next few weeks will be critical as Bennett recovers from the surgery and doctors carefully monitor how his heart is faring.
Muhammad Mohiuddin – scientific director of the Maryland University’s animal-to-human transplant program said that “If this works, there will be an endless supply of these organs for patients who are suffering.”
It is noteworthy that the US Food and Drug Administration had granted emergency authorization for the surgery on New Year’s Eve through its expanded access (compassionate use) provision.