The US has performed its first living pig kidney transplant on a patient.

According to MGH, the four-hour surgery, performed on March 16 on a 62-year-old male patient with end-stage renal disease, marks a significant milestone in efforts to create a more readily available supply of organs for transplantation.

Massachusetts General Hospital, where doctors transplanted a genetically modified pig kidney into a 62-year-old patient. Photo: AP

The hospital said the pig kidney used for the transplant had been genetically modified to remove harmful pig genes while adding certain human genes. Patient Richard Slayman, 62, from Massachusetts, is recovering well at MGH and is expected to be discharged soon.

Previously, pig kidneys were transplanted to brain-dead patients. Mr. Slayman is the first living patient in the world to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant.

Mr. Slayman suffers from Type 2 diabetes and hypertension, and received a kidney transplant in 2018, but it began to stop working after five years, forcing him to undergo dialysis.

Sharing his reasons for agreeing to a pig kidney transplant, Slayman said: "This is not only a way to help myself, but also a way to give hope to thousands of people who need a kidney transplant to survive."

Organ shortages are a pressing issue worldwide. At MGH alone, there are over 1,400 patients on the kidney transplant waiting list.

Dr. Tatsuo Kawai, a member of the surgical team, said: "We hope this transplant method will bring life to millions of kidney failure patients worldwide."

Transplantation of organs from one species to another is a growing field known as xenotransplantation. According to Dr. Winfred Williams, a nephrologist, the abundant supply of transplant organs thanks to technological advances could provide a fully functioning kidney for all kidney failure patients in need.

Besides kidneys, the US has also transplanted pig hearts into two patients, but both died in less than two months.

Hoai Phuong (according to AFP)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/my-lan-dau-ghep-than-lon-cho-benh-nhan-con-song-post288750.html