First time in medical history, US surgeons successfully transplant genetically modified pig heart into human patient

 

• Heart patient David Bennett, 57, is doing well after highly experimental surgery done in a last-ditch effort to save his life
• The groundbreaking transplant shows that a heart from a genetically modified animal can function in a human body without immediate rejection

Members of the surgical team show the pig heart for transplant into patient David Bennett in Baltimore, Maryland, on Friday. Photo: University of Maryland School of Medicine via AP

It's a win-win time in medical history, where a genetically modified pig heart has successfully transplanted into the human body, a 57-years old man.

“The historic procedure took place”-doctors and researchers of the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), Washington, US-said in a statement on Monday. While the patient's prognosis is far from certain, it represents a major milestone for animal to human transplantation.

The patient, David Bennett, had been deemed ineligible for human transplant -- a decision that is often taken when the recipient has very poor underlying health.

The surgery held on  last Friday took seven hours at the Baltimore hospital. Dr. Bartley Griffith, who performed the surgery, said-“the patient's condition (heart failure and an irregular heartbeat) made him ineligible for a human heart transplant or a heart pump”

Now, heart patient David Bennett, 57, is doing well after highly experimental surgery done in a last-ditch effort to save his life.

The groundbreaking transplant shows that a heart from a genetically modified animal can function in a human body without immediate rejection-(Source: Associated Press)

57-year-old David Bennett (right) received a genetically-modified pig's heart three days ago. Image: AP

“This medical first major achievement could one day help to solve the chronic shortage of organ donation. 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 Maryland university's animal-to-human transplant program.

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.

But 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. Several biotech companies are developing pig organs for human transplant; the one used for Friday's operation came from Revivicor, a subsidiary of United Therapeutics.

“I think you can characterise it as a watershed event”-Dr. David Klassen, UNOS chief medical officer, said of the Maryland transplant.

Griffith had transplanted pig hearts into about 50 baboons over five years, before offering the option to Bennett.

``We're learning a lot every day with this gentleman,'' Griffith said. ``And so far, we're happy with our decision to move forward. And he is as well: Big smile on his face today

Bennett, who has spent the last several months bedridden on a heart-lung bypass machine said "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, now I look forward to getting out of bed after I recover."He is now recovering and being carefully monitored to determine how the new organ performs.

There's a huge shortage of human organs donated for transplant, about 110,000 Americans are currently waiting for an organ transplant, and more than 6,000 patients die each year before getting one, according to official figures.

In such circumstances, 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.

To meet demand, doctors have long been interested in so-called xenotransplantation or cross-species organ donation, with experiments tracing back to the 17th century.

Early research focused on harvesting organs from primates -- for example a baboon heart was transplanted into a newborn known as "Baby Fae" in 1984, but she survived only 20 days.(Source: Economic Times.com)

Today, pig heart valves are widely used in humans, and pig skin is grafted on human burn victims. Pigs make the ideal donors because of their size, their rapid growth and large litters, and the fact is they are already raised as a food source.

This successful heart transplant surgery from animal to human also has an India-Pakistan connection

Pakistan-born  Dr Muhammad M Mohiuddin, MD, who is scientific and programe director of the Cardiac Xenotransplantion Program at the University of Maryland School of Medical  is also one one of the leading expert on transplanting animal organs. Presently he serves as the professor of the surgery at the UMSOM.

Dr Mohiuddin received his MBBS degree from Karachi’s Dow Medical College in 1989. He moved to the US and then received his first fellowship in transplantation biology at University of Pennsylvania and later fellowship in bone marrow transplantation at Institute of Cellular Therapeutics, Drexel University.

"This is the culmination of years of highly complicated research to hone this technique in animals with survival times that have reached beyond nine months. The FDA used our data and data on the experimental pig to authorise the transplant in an end-stage heart disease patient who had no other treatment options,” Dr Mohiuddin said according to a statement released by the UMSOM and the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC).

1.  Dr Mohiuddin (R) was one of the surgeons who along with Dr Griffth transplanted the genetically modified pig’s heart in Mr Bennett, Dr Suntha (L) serves as the president and CEO of the UMMS(Image:University of Maryland, School of Medicine)

Dr Mohiuddin assisted Dr Bartley P. Griffith, MD in transplanting the pig heart into the body of David Bennett, a Maryland resident. 

The team’s efforts were lauded by Indian-origin US citizen Dr Mohan Suntha, who serves as the president and chief executive officer of the University of Maryland Medical System(UMMS).

"The University of Maryland Medical System is committed to working with our University of Maryland School of Medicine partners to explore, research, and in many cases implement the innovations in patient care that make it possible to improve quality of life and save lives,” Suntha said.

Dr Suntha served the UMMS throughout his career. He has served several faculty and appointments throughout his tenure and is a member of the American College of Radiation Oncology and the American society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.