The poor guy, not only is he on immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of his days, but he's a new type of walking transgenic disease vector.
Beats dying in vain wait for a donor.
U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient
21–30 of 731 posts
Re: U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient
#22The biggest surprise for me is that organ transplant from animals had been attempted in the past, I was sure it had not been done yet.
Apparently there was a newborn that lived for 21 days with baboon heart in 1984: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Fae
Wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenotransplantation ) also lists one successful kidney transplant from chimpanzee in 1964:
> Out of 13 such transplants performed by Keith Reemtsma, one kidney recipient lived for 9 months, returning to work as a schoolteacher. At autopsy, the chimpanzee kidneys appeared normal and showed no signs of acute or chronic rejection.
Re: U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient
#23I wonder why a pig heart rather than one from another primate? The article mentions a baboon heart in an earlier attempt at xenotransplantation with an infant. Is a pig’s heart as, or more, compatible or is it more a matter of availability?
IANAD, but from what I remember back when trans-species heart transplant research started in the 80's, it was that pig heart tissue is most similar to human heart tissue.
Hopefully there is a D on HN who can explain better.
Re: U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient
#24If a pigs heart was beating in my chest I dont think I would ever be able to relax again
Considering how much eaten slop and adipose tissue it's evolved responsible for dealing with, I'd actually be pretty hopeful.
Re: U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient
#25I wonder why a pig heart rather than one from another primate? The article mentions a baboon heart in an earlier attempt at xenotransplantation with an infant. Is a pig’s heart as, or more, compatible or is it more a matter of availability?
Pigs are very anatomically similar to humans but due to being a food source there were probably also fewer ethical concerns compared to using primates.
Re: U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient
#26You might be asking, why a pig? I don't know, but forever ago I wrote software for a cardiovascular imaging lab and pigs were their primary test subjects. I was like, "why pigs?" and the PI was like, "Imaging-wise, pig hearts aren't too different from humans. Plus, we can give them a heart attack in the scanner and not go to jail. Some labs use dogs. I just can't do that."
Re: U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient
#27If a pigs heart was beating in my chest I dont think I would ever be able to relax again
It beats dying. (pun intended)
Re: U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient
#28If a pigs heart was beating in my chest I dont think I would ever be able to relax again
To be fair, pigs generally seem much more relaxed animals than humans. Will happily eat pork too for that matter. I'd just find some nice mud to roll in.
Re: U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient
#29If a pigs heart was beating in my chest I dont think I would ever be able to relax again
I'm only able to relax when I don't think about my need for a constantly beating heart -- pig or otherwise.
Same, I start to panic if I think about my heart or circulatory system for more than a few seconds
Re: U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient
#30I wonder why a pig heart rather than one from another primate? The article mentions a baboon heart in an earlier attempt at xenotransplantation with an infant. Is a pig’s heart as, or more, compatible or is it more a matter of availability?
IANAD, but from what I remember back when trans-species heart transplant research started in the 80's, it was that pig heart tissue is most similar to human heart tissue. Hopefully there is a D on HN who can explain better.
[deleted]