U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human in a last-ditch life-saving effort
By CARLA K. JOHNSON AP Medical Writer
In a medical first, doctors transplanted a pig heart into a patient in a last-ditch effort to save his life and a Maryland hospital said Monday that he’s doing well three days after the highly experimental surgery.
While it’s too soon to know if the operation really will work, it marks a step in the decades-long quest to one day use animal organs for life-saving transplants. 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.
The patient, David Bennett, 57, knew there was no guarantee the experiment would work but he was dying, ineligible for a human heart transplant and had no other option, his son told The Associated Press.
“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,” Bennett said a day before the surgery, according to a statement provided by the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
There’s a huge shortage of human organs donated for transplant, driving scientists to try to figure out how to use animal organs instead. Last year, there were just over 3,800 heart transplants in the U.S., a record number, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which oversees the nation’s transplant system.
“If this works, there will be an endless supply of these organs for patients who are suffering,” said Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin, scientific director of the university’s animal-to-human transplant program.
But prior attempts at such transplants — or xenotransplantation — have failed, largely because patients’ bodies rapidly rejected the animal organ. Notably, in 1984, Baby Fae, a dying infant, lived 21 days with a baboon heart.
The difference this time: The Maryland surgeons used a heart from a pig that had undergone gene-editing to remove a sugar in its cells that’s responsible for that hyper-fast organ rejection.
“I think you can characterize it as a watershed event,” Dr. David Klassen, UNOS’ chief medical officer, said of the Maryland transplant.
Still, Klassen cautioned that it’s only a first tentative step into exploring whether this time around, xenotransplantation might finally work.
The Food and Drug Administration, which oversees xenotransplantation experiments, allowed the surgery under what’s called a “compassionate use” emergency authorization, available when a patient with a life-threatening condition has no other options.
Just last September, researchers in New York performed an experiment suggesting these kinds of pigs might offer promise for animal-to-human transplants. Doctors temporarily attached a pig’s kidney to a deceased human body and watched it begin to work.
The Maryland transplant takes their experiment to the next level, said Dr. Robert Montgomery, who led that experiment at NYU Langone Health.
“This is a truly remarkable breakthrough,” he said in a statement. “As a heart transplant recipient, myself with a genetic heart disorder, I am thrilled by this news and the hope it gives to my family and other patients who will eventually be saved by this breakthrough.”
It will be crucial to share the data gathered from this transplant before opening the option to more patients, said Karen Maschke, a research scholar at the Hastings Center, who is helping develop ethics and policy recommendations for the first clinical trials under a grant from the National Institutes of Health.
“Rushing into animal-to-human transplants without this information would not be advisable,” Maschke said.
The surgery last Friday took seven hours at the Baltimore hospital.
“He realizes the magnitude of what was done and he really realizes the importance of it,” David Bennett Jr. said of his father. “He could not live, or he could last a day, or he could last a couple of days. I mean, we’re in the unknown at this point.”
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AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard contributed.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human in a last-ditch life-saving effort
Joe DiMeo brushes back his hair while posing for a portrait, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, at NYU Langone Health in New York, six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. During a recent medical checkup, he practiced raising his eyebrows, opening and closing his eyes, puckering his mouth, giving a thumbs up and whistling. DiMeo can feel his new forehead, and often reaches up to push his long hair off of his face. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Joe DiMeo brushes back his hair while posing for a portrait, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, at NYU Langone Health in New York, six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. During a recent medical checkup, he practiced raising his eyebrows, opening and closing his eyes, puckering his mouth, giving a thumbs up and whistling. DiMeo can feel his new forehead, and often reaches up to push his long hair off of his face. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human in a last-ditch life-saving effort
Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez has Joe DiMeo demonstrate the flexibility in his new hands Monday at NYU Langone Health in New York. Rodriguez led a surgical team that amputated both of DiMeo’s hands, replacing them mid-forearm and connecting nerves, blood vessels and 21 tendons with hair-thin sutures. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez has Joe DiMeo demonstrate the flexibility in his new hands Monday at NYU Langone Health in New York. Rodriguez led a surgical team that amputated both of DiMeo’s hands, replacing them mid-forearm and connecting nerves, blood vessels and 21 tendons with hair-thin sutures. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human in a last-ditch life-saving effort
Joe DiMeo uses his new hands to grasp a knife and fork to cut some modeling plastic during an occupational therapy session in New York. DiMeo has been in intensive rehabilitation, devoting hours daily to physical, occupational and speech therapy. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Joe DiMeo uses his new hands to grasp a knife and fork to cut some modeling plastic during an occupational therapy session in New York. DiMeo has been in intensive rehabilitation, devoting hours daily to physical, occupational and speech therapy. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human in a last-ditch life-saving effort
Joe DiMeo and his plastic surgeon Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez pose for a portrait, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, in New York. In the months since his face and double hand transplant, DiMeo has not shown any signs of rejecting his new face or hands, said Rodriguez, the director of NYU Langone’s Face Transplant Program. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Joe DiMeo and his plastic surgeon Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez pose for a portrait, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, in New York. In the months since his face and double hand transplant, DiMeo has not shown any signs of rejecting his new face or hands, said Rodriguez, the director of NYU Langone’s Face Transplant Program. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human in a last-ditch life-saving effort
Joe DiMeo uses his cellphone while posing for a portrait, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, in New York, six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Joe DiMeo uses his cellphone while posing for a portrait, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, in New York, six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human in a last-ditch life-saving effort
Joe DiMeo stands with his parents Rose and John in the backyard of their home in Clark, N.J., Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. “In the future, I have a lot more plans for myself,” he said. “You got a new chance at life. You really can’t give up.” (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Joe DiMeo stands with his parents Rose and John in the backyard of their home in Clark, N.J., Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. “In the future, I have a lot more plans for myself,” he said. “You got a new chance at life. You really can’t give up.” (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human in a last-ditch life-saving effort
Joe DiMeo plays pool with his father John at their home, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Clark, N.J., six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. Back in 2018, DiMeo fell asleep at the wheel, he said, losing control of his car, which hit a curb and utility pole, flipped over, and burst into flames. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Joe DiMeo plays pool with his father John at their home, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Clark, N.J., six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. Back in 2018, DiMeo fell asleep at the wheel, he said, losing control of his car, which hit a curb and utility pole, flipped over, and burst into flames. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human in a last-ditch life-saving effort
Joe DiMeo plays ball with his dog Buster in the backyard of his house in Clark, N.J., Jan. 28, 2021, six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Joe DiMeo plays ball with his dog Buster in the backyard of his house in Clark, N.J., Jan. 28, 2021, six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human in a last-ditch life-saving effort
Joe DiMeo, right, demonstrates the flexibility in his fingers for Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez at NYU Langone Health in New York. A surgical team, led by Rodriguez, amputated both of DiMeo’s hands, replacing them mid-forearm and connecting nerves, blood vessels and 21 tendons with hair-thin sutures. The scar on DiMeo's forearm shows where the new hand was attached. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Joe DiMeo, right, demonstrates the flexibility in his fingers for Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez at NYU Langone Health in New York. A surgical team, led by Rodriguez, amputated both of DiMeo’s hands, replacing them mid-forearm and connecting nerves, blood vessels and 21 tendons with hair-thin sutures. The scar on DiMeo's forearm shows where the new hand was attached. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human in a last-ditch life-saving effort
Joe DiMeo demonstrates how he can arrange his hair at NYU Langone Health in New York, six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. In the 23-hour procedure the medical team replaced his full face, including the forehead, eyebrows, nose, eyelids, lips, both ears and underlying facial bones. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Joe DiMeo demonstrates how he can arrange his hair at NYU Langone Health in New York, six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. In the 23-hour procedure the medical team replaced his full face, including the forehead, eyebrows, nose, eyelids, lips, both ears and underlying facial bones. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human in a last-ditch life-saving effort
Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez has Joe DiMeo demonstrate the flexibility and strength in his hands at NYU Langone Health in New York, six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. Rodriguez, who led the surgical team, said he’s amazed to see that DiMeo has been able to master skills like zipping up his jacket and putting on his shoes. “It’s very gratifying to all of us,” he said. “There’s a tremendous sense of pride.” (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez has Joe DiMeo demonstrate the flexibility and strength in his hands at NYU Langone Health in New York, six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. Rodriguez, who led the surgical team, said he’s amazed to see that DiMeo has been able to master skills like zipping up his jacket and putting on his shoes. “It’s very gratifying to all of us,” he said. “There’s a tremendous sense of pride.” (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human in a last-ditch life-saving effort
Joe DiMeo whistles softly at NYU Langone Health in New York, six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. During the medical checkup, he practiced raising his eyebrows, opening and closing his eyes, puckering his mouth, giving a thumbs up and whistling. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Joe DiMeo whistles softly at NYU Langone Health in New York, six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. During the medical checkup, he practiced raising his eyebrows, opening and closing his eyes, puckering his mouth, giving a thumbs up and whistling. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human in a last-ditch life-saving effort
Joe DiMeo clasps his new hands, Jan. 25, 2021 in New York. In the months since his transplant surgery, DiMeo has not shown any signs of rejecting his new face or hands. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Joe DiMeo clasps his new hands, Jan. 25, 2021 in New York. In the months since his transplant surgery, DiMeo has not shown any signs of rejecting his new face or hands. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human in a last-ditch life-saving effort
Physical therapist Eric Ross, right, watches as Joe DiMeo exercises, Jan. 25, 2021, at NYU Langone Health in New York, six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. The 22-year-old New Jersey resident had the surgery last August, two years after being badly burned in a car crash. “I knew it would be baby steps all the way,” DiMeo said recently. “You’ve got to have a lot of motivation, a lot of patience. And you’ve got to stay strong through everything.” (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Physical therapist Eric Ross, right, watches as Joe DiMeo exercises, Jan. 25, 2021, at NYU Langone Health in New York, six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. The 22-year-old New Jersey resident had the surgery last August, two years after being badly burned in a car crash. “I knew it would be baby steps all the way,” DiMeo said recently. “You’ve got to have a lot of motivation, a lot of patience. And you’ve got to stay strong through everything.” (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human in a last-ditch life-saving effort
Physical therapist Eric Ross, left, watches as Joe DiMeo lifts weights at NYU Langone Health in New York. The 22-year-old New Jersey resident had a face and double hand transplant operation last August, two years after being badly burned in a car crash. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Physical therapist Eric Ross, left, watches as Joe DiMeo lifts weights at NYU Langone Health in New York. The 22-year-old New Jersey resident had a face and double hand transplant operation last August, two years after being badly burned in a car crash. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human in a last-ditch life-saving effort
Joe DiMeo holds a tennis racket as he works in a physical therapy session, Jan. 25, 2021, in New York, six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. Since leaving the hospital in November, DiMeo has been in intensive rehabilitation, devoting hours daily to physical, occupational and speech therapy. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Joe DiMeo holds a tennis racket as he works in a physical therapy session, Jan. 25, 2021, in New York, six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. Since leaving the hospital in November, DiMeo has been in intensive rehabilitation, devoting hours daily to physical, occupational and speech therapy. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
