Pig kidney transplant patient dies two months after pioneering surgery
The first patient to be given a kidney transplant from a pig has died two months after the milestone operation.
Rick Slayman, 62, was suffering from end-stage kidney disease when doctors in the US performed the world’s first transplant of its kind with a genetically edited pig kidney.
Announcing the news on Sunday, Massachusetts General Hospital, which performed the operation, said it did not believe the transplant was linked to his death.
“Mass General is deeply saddened at the sudden passing of Mr Rick Slayman. We have no indication that it was the result of his recent transplant,” the Boston hospital said on Saturday.
Mr Slayman was suffering from Type 2 diabetes and hypertension when he first received a transplanted human kidney in 2018.
After it began to fail five years later, he agreed to undergo surgery with a pig kidney in March. The organ had been generally altered 69 times to make it safe for a human recipient.
Two previous organ transplants from pigs, both involving hearts, had failed within weeks.
“Mr Slayman will forever be seen as a beacon of hope to countless transplant patients worldwide and we are deeply grateful for his trust and willingness to advance the field of xenotransplantation,” the hospital statement said.
Mr Slayman had agreed to the procedure “not only as a way to help (him), but a way to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive,” the statement added.
His family said that while they were “deeply saddened about the sudden passing of our beloved Rick”, he had inspired many people.
“After his transplant, Rick said that one of the reasons he underwent this procedure was to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive,” they said in a statement.
“His legacy will be one that inspires patients, researchers, and health care professionals.”
More than 89,000 patients were on the national kidney waiting list as of March this year, according to a US health department website.
