MD Man Receives Genetically Modified Pig's Heart In Transplant

BALTIMORE, MD — A 57-year-old Maryland man with terminal heart disease is recovering after receiving a genetically modified pig heart in a first-of-its-kind transplant surgery, the University of Maryland Medical Center said Monday.

The historic 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, offering hope to other people with failing organs, doctors said.

“It was either die or do this transplant. I want to live. I know it’s a shot in the dark, but it’s my last choice,” patient David Bennett said a day before the surgery was conducted, according to a news release.

He had been hospitalized and bedridden for the past few months.

“I look forward to getting out of bed after I recover.”

Doctors will closely watch Bennett over the next several weeks to determine whether the transplant provides lifesaving benefit, the hospital said in the news release. Bennett had been deemed ineligible for a conventional heart transplant at UMMC, as well as at several other leading transplant centers that reviewed his medical records.

According to the University of Maryland Medical Center , the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization for the surgery on New Year’s Eve through its expanded access (compassionate use) provision. It is used when an experimental medical product — in this case, the genetically modified pig’s heart — is the only option available for a patient faced with a serious or life-threatening medical condition. The authorization to proceed was granted in the hope of saving the patient’s life.

“This was a breakthrough surgery and brings us one step closer to solving the organ shortage crisis. There are simply not enough donor human hearts available to meet the long list of potential recipients,” said Dr. Bartley P. Griffith, who surgically transplanted the pig heart into the patient.

“We are proceeding cautiously, but we are also optimistic that this first-in-the-world surgery will provide an important new option for patients in the future," he added.

About 110,000 Americans are currently waiting for an organ transplant, and more than 6,000 patients die each year before getting one, according to the federal government’s organdonor.gov.

UMMC hospital staff believe that xenotransplantation, which is the process of transplanting animal organs, could potentially save thousands of lives but does carry a unique set of risks, including the possibility of triggering a dangerous immune response. Hospital officials said these responses can trigger an immediate rejection of the organ with a potentially deadly outcome to the patient.

"Our transplant surgeon-scientists are among the most talented in the country, and are helping to bring the promise of xenotransplantation to fruition. We hope it will one day become a standard of care for patients in need of organ transplants. As has happened throughout our history, the University of Maryland School of Medicine continues to address the most complex medical and scientific problems," said E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, executive vice president for medical affairs at UM Baltimore, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean, University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Before consenting to receive the transplant, UMMC said doctors fully informed Bennett of the procedure’s risks, and that the procedure was experimental with unknown risks and benefits.