The world’s first patient with a transplanted pig kidney Rick Slayman has been discharged from the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston United States of America (USA) almost three weeks after the operation.
Penpushing reports the management of the hospital announced this on X, formerly Twitter, just as record has it that pigs are particularly suitable as donors because their metabolism is similar to that of humans, but the genetic makeup of the donor animals must be altered.
The Doctors while quoting the 62-year-old patient said he stated that the moment leaving hospital with one of the cleanest bills of health he had in a long time is one, adding that he wished he would come for many years.
‘This moment, leaving the hospital today with one of the cleanest bills of health I’ve had in a long time is one I wished would come for many years, Now it’s a reality. This day not only meant a new beginning for him, he said, but also for many other people who were waiting for a kidney transplant’.
Penpushing further reports that the hospital authorities said the patient who suffers from a life-threatening kidney disease, had the genetically modified organ transplanted on 16 March, while the procedure, known as xenotransplantation, has been the subject of research for many years
The management explained that without genetic modification, there would be an immediate rejection reaction when the organs are transferred to humans, recalling that the patient showed signs of rejection on the eighth day after the operation, but the immune reaction was contained with medication.
Penpushing also reports that the hospital said the patient reacted to the treatment in the same way as patients who had received organs from human donors, explaining that it was a roller coaster the first week.
The record, however, showed that in recent years, two seriously ill patients had pig hearts implanted as replacement organs at the University Hospital in Baltimore, State of Maryland in America, but died a few weeks after the operation.
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