BALTIMORE — A last-ditch effort to save a Maryland man’s life through a first-of-its-kind transplant succeeded, providing new hope to thousands of patients in need of new organs.
David Bennett Sr., 57, underwent the experimental, eight-hour procedure at the University of Maryland Medical Center on Friday and, by all reports, was resting comfortably Monday with a new heart, courtesy of a genetically modified pig, The New York Times reported.
The successful procedure marks the first time a gene-edited pig has been used as an organ donor, USA Today reported.
“It’s working, and it looks normal. We are thrilled, but we don’t know what tomorrow will bring us. This has never been done before,” Dr. Bartley Griffith, director of the medical center’s cardiac transplant program who performed the operation, told the Times.
According to USA Today, only an estimated 3,000 Americans are fortunate enough to receive a new heart each year, and roughly 20% of those transplant patients who make it onto the waiting list die before a viable heart becomes available.
Meanwhile, the United Network for Organ Sharing, a nonprofit that coordinates the nation’s organ procurement efforts, told the Times that more than 41,000 Americans received transplanted organs in 2021, more than half of which were kidneys.
In turn, researchers are hopeful that Bennett’s successful transplant means that the more than half a million Americans currently waiting for replacement organs may be able to sidestep supply shortages.
Dr. David Klassen, chief medical officer of the United Network for Organ Sharing, called Friday’s transplant a “watershed moment.”
“Doors are starting to open that will lead, I believe, to major changes in how we treat organ failure,” Klassen, who was formerly a University of Maryland transplant surgeon, told the Times.
©2022 Cox Media Group
