The first person to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant has died almost two months after the operation in the United States. This was reported by the Associated Press with reference to the family of the deceased and the Mass General Transplant Center hospital, which performed the operation, UNN reports.
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Richard "Rick" Slayman received the transplant at Massachusetts General Hospital in March at the age of 62. Surgeons said they believe the pig kidney will last him at least two years.
A man from Weymouth, Massachusetts, has become the first living person to receive a transplant of a genetically modified pig kidney. Previously, pig kidneys were temporarily transplanted into brain-dead donors. Two men received hearts from pigs, although both died within a few months.
Sleiman received a kidney transplant in a hospital in 2018, but last year he had to return for dialysis. Later, doctors offered him a pig kidney transplant.
The transplant team at Massachusetts General Hospital said they were deeply saddened by Slayman's death and expressed condolences to his family. They said they had no indication that he died as a result of the transplant.
In a statement, the Sleiman family thanked the doctors. "Their tremendous efforts during the xenotransplant gave our family seven more weeks with Rick, and the memories we made during that time will remain in our minds and hearts," the statement said.
They noted that Sleiman underwent the surgery in part to give hope to thousands of people who need transplants to survive.