The patient, David Bennet, 57, of Maryland, 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, a pig heart transplant “was the only option available to the patient,” since several hospitals had ruled out the possibility of a conventional transplant.
“It was to die or to do this transplant. I want to live. I know it is a shot in the dark, but it is my last option,” said the patient, according to the statement from the University of Maryland.
Bennett, who has spent the last several months bedridden with a life support machine, added: “I look forward to getting out of bed once I have recovered.”
The United States Food and Drug Administration authorized Bennet’s operation on New Year’s Eve, and he was informed of the risks of the operation, as it was still an experimental technique.
“It has been a revolutionary surgery and brings us one step closer to solving the crisis of organ shortage. There are not enough human donor hearts available to meet the long list of potential recipients,” said Bartley Griffith, doctor in charge of this surgical intervention.
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 the kidney of a genetically modified pig into a human body, another success that, like the one known this Monday, may lead in the future to the need for donating organs from a deceased to save someone else’s life.
“We are proceeding cautiously, but we are also optimistic that this world’s first surgical operation will provide an important new option for patients in the future,” added Griffith.
With information from AFP and EFE