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The first recipient of a genetically modified pig kidney transplant died about two months later, with the hospital that performed the operation saying there was no indication the transplant was the cause.
Richard “Rick” Sleiman was transplanted to Massachusetts General Hospital in March at the age of 62. Surgeons said they believed the pig kidney would last at least two years. On Saturday, his family and the hospital that performed the operation confirmed Sleiman’s death.
The transplant team at Massachusetts General Hospital said in a statement that it was deeply saddened and offered its condolences to his family.
Sleiman was the first living person to undergo the procedure. Pig kidneys have previously been temporarily transplanted into brain-dead recipients as an experiment. Two men received heart transplants from pigs, although both died after a few months.
Sleiman had a kidney transplant at the hospital in 2018, but had to go back on dialysis last year when he showed signs of failure. When dialysis complications arose, requiring frequent procedures, doctors offered him a pig kidney transplant.
In a statement, Sleiman’s family thanked his doctors. “Their tremendous efforts leading the xenotransplantation gave our family another seven weeks with Rick, and our memories made during that time will live on in our minds and hearts,” the statement said.
They said Sleiman underwent the surgery in part to give hope to the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive. “Rick achieved that goal and his hope and optimism will endure forever.”
In April, and New Jersey woman Lisa Pisano received a genetically modified pig kidney as well as a mechanical pump to keep her heart beating.
Xenotransplantation refers to treating human patients with cells, tissues or organs from animals. Such attempts have long failed because the human immune system immediately destroyed the foreign animal tissue. Recent trials have involved pigs that have been modified to make their organs more like human organs.
With the Associated Press
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