Massachusetts General Hospital said it was the first time a genetically engineered pig kidney had been transplanted into a living person. Previously, pig kidneys were temporarily transplanted into patients without brain functions. Also, two men received heart transplants from pigs, but both died within a few months, writes "Radio Free Europe" (CSR).
The experimental transplant was performed Saturday at a Boston hospital.
The four-hour operation, performed on March 16, "marks a major milestone in the quest to provide more accessible organs to patients," the hospital said in a statement.
The patient, Richard Sleiman of Weymouth, Massachusetts, is recovering well and is expected to be discharged soon, doctors said Thursday.
Sleiman had a kidney transplant at the hospital in 2018, but had to return to dialysis last year when he showed signs of failure. When complications arose with dialysis, his doctors suggested a pig kidney transplant, he said in a statement released by the hospital.
"I saw it not only as a way to help me, but as a way to give hope to the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive," Sleiman said.
