New milestone in medicine. The University of Maryland School of Medicine (USA) has reported that it achieved transplant a heart from pork genetically modified 57-year-old man in surgery which he described as “historical”, according to Efe. This 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, “the institution detailed in a statement.
The patient, David Bennet, 57 and a Maryland resident, he underwent surgery three days ago at the University Medical Center after suffering an arrhythmia and is under medical surveillance in good health.
According to the institution, the transplant of a pig heart “was the only option available to the patient,” since several hospitals had ruled out the possibility of a conventional transplant.
“It was either dying or doing this transplant. I want to live. I know it’s a shot in the dark, but it’s my last option & rdquor ;, said the patient, according to the statement from the University of Maryland.
Experimental technique
The United States Food and Drug Administration authorized the operation of Bennet on New Year’s Eve, who had been bedridden for months and was informed of the risks of the operation, as it was a still experimental technique.
“It has been a revolutionary surgery and brings us one step closer to solving the organ shortage crisis. There are not enough human hearts donors available to meet the long list of potential recipients & rdquor ;, said Bartley Griffith, doctor in charge of this surgery.
Related news
About 110,000 Americans are currently waiting for an organ transplant, and more than 6,000 patients die each year before receiving one, according to official data cited by the university.
A New York hospital last October managed to temporarily transplant a kidney from a pig genetically modified to a human body, another success that, like the one known this Monday, may lead in the future to the fact that the donation of organs from a deceased person is not needed to save the life of another person.
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