Maryland, March 9 (U.S.): A 57-year-old man with a terminal heart disease who made history as the first person to receive a genetically modified pig heart died Tuesday at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), the hospital said.
Reuters reports that David Bennett received the transplant on January 7.
The hospital said in a statement on Wednesday that his condition had begun to deteriorate several days ago, and that he had received “palliative care” after it was found that he would not recover.
Dr. Bartley Griffiths, director of the heart transplant program at UMCC, said in a videotaped statement that Bennett was “unable to overcome what turned out to be the devastating debilitation” caused by the heart failure he suffered before transplantation.
The transplanted heart is working “beautifully,” Griffiths said.
The hospital said Bennett was able to communicate with his family during his final hours.
Bennett first came to UMMC as a patient in October and was placed on a heart-lung bypass machine, but was deemed ineligible for a conventional heart transplant.
After Bennett received a pig’s heart modified to prevent rejection using new genetic modification tools, his son called the procedure a “miracle.”
For Bennett, the procedure was his last option.
“Before agreeing to receive the implant, Mr. Bennett was fully aware of the risks of the procedure, and that the procedure was experimental with unknown risks and benefits,” the hospital said.
Researchers have long considered pigs as a potential source for transplanted organs because they are anatomically similar to humans in many ways. Previous efforts to transplant pigs to humans failed due to genetic variations that caused organ rejection or viruses that pose a risk of infection.
“Proving that it was possible – that we were able to take a genetically modified organ and watch it work flawlessly for nine weeks, is very positive in terms of the potential for this treatment,” Griffiths said.
MI