Lifestyle
First man to receive pig heart transplant dies
David Bennett made history as the first person to receive a genetically modified pig heart
March 9, 2022 2:58pm
Updated: March 9, 2022 5:43pm
David Bennett, the first patient to receive a genetically modified pig heart in early January, died on Tuesday, the University of Maryland Medical Center said in a statement.
After several weeks without signs of rejecting the transplant, the 57-year-old patient began to suffer progressive deterioration. Doctors administered palliative care, and he was able to talk with his family before he passed away.
"We are devastated by the loss of Mr. Bennett. He proved to be a brave and noble patient who fought to the end. We express our sincere condolences to his family," said Dr. Bartley P. Griffith, who successfully performed the groundbreaking surgery on January 7.
"Bennett became known to millions of people around the world for his courage and steadfast will to live," Dr. Griffith added in the statement.
Muhammad M. Mohiuddin, one of the world's leading experts in animal organ transplantation, expressed his appreciation to Bennett for having a "unique and historical role" with his operation, which will further studies in the field of xenotransplantation.
"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 option," Bennet said after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the experimental procedure of inserting an animal organ.
Bennet's team of doctors decided before surgery to place him on a heart-lung machine to keep him alive since he was not eligible for a standard heart transplant, France 24 reported.
Previous inventions of this type of transplant failed immediately because patients' bodies quickly rejected the animal organs. One of the best-known cases was in 1984, when baby Fae, a dying girl, survived 21 days with the heart of a baboon.
In Bennett's case, Maryland surgeons used a pig's heart that underwent genomic editing to remove sugar from the cells responsible for almost immediate organ rejection.
