Pig kidney transplant not linked to man's death, doctors say

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STORY: DR. LEONARDO RIELLA: “So at this time, there's no indication that the kidney transplant had any influence on his death….”

:: Massachusetts General Hospital

Doctors say they don't believe the man who received the world's first pig kidney transplant died because of the transplanted organ.

Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital announced 62-year-old Rick Slayman’s death a few days ago.

:: March 16, 2024

Dr. Leonardo Riella heads kidney transplants there.

"We saw him in clinic on the day that that he ended up passing. And so we had evidence that his blood tests and urine tests showed that the kidney was working, was working well."

Slayman had end-stage renal disease.

:: Michelle Rose/Massachusetts General Hospital

His kidney transplant came from a pig that had been genetically edited - a procedure that was celebrated as a milestone to offer up more readily available organs to patients.

DR. MIKE CURTIS: “The kidney was functioning well. It was making urine…”

Dr. Mike Curtis is the CEO of eGenesis, the startup which provided Slayman’s pig kidney.

MIKE CURTIS: “He was a relatively complicated patient. He had a reasonable cardiovascular risk. He had metabolic disease, type two diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, right…” //

"So the simple, you know, hypothesis is, is there something from cardiovascular disease that could be playing into his loss of life? I think that's the simplest hypothesis and something that the teams are exploring.”

:: File

More than 100,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for an organ transplant, with kidneys in the greatest demand.

:: File

That’s according to a data tracker maintained by the United Network for Organ Sharing.

In a statement, Slayman’s family said they took comfort knowing that he had inspired so many people.

CURTIS: “I think the best way we can honor Mr. Slayman's legacy is to learn from this experiment, learn from this procedure, and inform what we do next. I think the worst thing we can do is become too conservative and stop."