medicine
Pig heart implanted into second patient in the USA
Surgeons at the University Hospital in Baltimore are preparing for the pig heart transplant. It is the second operation of its kind worldwide. Photo
© Mark Teske/University of Maryland School of Medicine/dpa
In January 2022, the first patient in the world had a genetically modified pig heart inserted as a replacement organ. Now there is another case. Similar interventions are also planned in Germany.
A second patient has one in the USA Pig heart implanted. The university hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, said it was a 58-year-old with a life-threatening heart disease.
The father of two is recovering well after the operation, breathing independently and communicating with family and friends. The heart is currently functioning well without being connected to machines.
This is the second patient in the world to have a genetically modified pig heart inserted as a replacement organ. The first patient had such an organ implanted in January 2022, also at the University Hospital in Baltimore, and he died around two months later.
The so-called xenotransplantation – i.e. the transfer of animal organs to humans – has been researched since the 1980s. Pigs are particularly suitable as donors because their metabolism is similar to that of humans. Similar interventions are also planned in Germany in the foreseeable future.