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According to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, more than 40,000 transplants were carried out in 2021.
More recently, a monumental breakthrough was made as 57-year-old David Bennett received a modified pig heart transplant. Bennett had suffered from terminal heart disease; he was on life support and bed rest in the weeks leading up to the surgery. He had been considered ineligible for a human heart transplant, leaving the pig heart as his only option. The monumental surgery took place on January 7 2022, and he died approximately 2 months later, on the 8th of March.
In the University of Maryland Medical Center’s announcement to the general public on Wednesday the 9th of March, Dr. Bartley P. Griffith, the surgeon who performed the transplant, stated: “We are devastated by the loss of Mr. Bennett. He proved to be a brave and noble patient who fought all the way to the end. We extend our sincerest condolences to his family.” Bennett’s condition had reportedly been deteriorating for several days, and was given palliative care as his health worsened.
Revivicor, a medical company located in Virginia, provided the heart for the transplant. Genes that could potentially have caused the heart to be rejected by the human immune system were removed, and another gene was eliminated to prevent excessive pig heart tissue growth. Six human genes were then added to make the heart more “welcoming” to the patient’s immune system.
The transplanted heart reportedly functioned well for several weeks, during which there were no signs of rejection. Scientists hope that pig organs may one day reduce the number of people awaiting an organ transplant. Currently, 17 people die every day in the US as a result of shortages of organs available for transplant, and someone joins the waiting list every 9 minutes.
Before the transplant, Bennett was well aware of the risks of this surgery, stating: “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 choice.” Hospital officials cannot yet comment on the cause of death; it remains unclear if the body did indeed reject the foreign organ.
David Bennett Jr hopes his father’s transplant will "be the beginning of hope and not the end", adding "We are grateful for every innovative moment, every crazy dream, every sleepless night that went into this historic effort.”
The fact Bennett survived past the one month mark post-transplant has proven to doctors that a genetically-modified heart from a pig can be transplanted into the human body without immediately being rejected.
