First person to undergo successful pig kidney transplant discharged from hospital

Doctors hope surgery at Massachusetts General will pave way for other similar procedures, as thousands die every year waiting for organ transplants

In this March 16, 2024, image courtesy of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, surgeons perform the world's first genetically modified pig kidney transplant into a living human. (Michelle Rose/Massachusetts General Hospital/AFP)
In this March 16, 2024, image courtesy of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, surgeons perform the world's first genetically modified pig kidney transplant into a living human. (Michelle Rose/Massachusetts General Hospital/AFP)

NEW YORK (AP) — The first person to undergo a successful transplant using a genetically modified pig kidney has been released from the hospital, CNN reported on Thursday, two weeks after he underwent the surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital.

The patient, 62-year-old Rick Slayman, was found eligible for the first-of-its-kind experimental surgery after a kidney he received in a transplant in 2018 started showing signs of failure after five years and he had to go back on dialysis.

When dialysis complications arose requiring frequent procedures, his doctors suggested a pig kidney transplant, he said in a statement released by the hospital.

“I saw it not only as a way to help me, but a way to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive,” said Slayman, a systems manager for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

Upon his discharge, Slayman — who had been suffering from end-stage kidney disease — said in a statement released by the hospital that he was leaving “with one of the cleanest bills of health I’ve had in a long time.”

“I’m excited to resume spending time with my family, friends and loved ones free from the burden of dialysis that has affected my quality of life for many years,” he added.

The four-hour transplant surgery, performed on March 16, “marks a major milestone in the quest to provide more readily available organs to patients,” the hospital said in an update about Slayman’s progress last week.

The surgery was the first time a genetically modified pig kidney has been transplanted into a living person. Previously, pig kidneys have been temporarily transplanted into brain-dead donors. Also, two men received heart transplants from pigs, although both died within months.

A patient arrives at the Massachusetts General Hospital emergency entrance, Friday, April 3, 2020, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

Dr. Tatsuo Kawai, the transplant surgeon, said the team believes the pig kidney will work for at least two years. If it fails, Slayman could go back on dialysis, said kidney specialist Dr. Winfred Williams. He noted that, unlike the pig heart recipients who were very sick, Slayman is “actually quite robust.”

The transplant surgery took four hours, with 15 people in the operating room who applauded when the kidney turned pink and started making urine, doctors said at a news conference. “It was truly the most beautiful kidney I have ever seen,” said Kawai.

Dr. Parsia Vagefi, chief of surgical transplantation at UT Southwestern Medical Center, called the announcement “a big step forward.” But echoing the Boston doctors, he said studies involving more patients at different medical centers would be needed for it to become more commonly available.

The experiment marks the latest development in xenotransplantation, the term for efforts to try to heal human patients with cells, tissues or organs from animals. For decades, it didn’t work — the human immune system immediately destroyed foreign animal tissue. More recent attempts have involved pigs that have been modified so their organs are more humanlike — increasing hope that they might one day help fill a shortage of donated organs.

More than 100,000 people are on the national waiting list for a transplant, most of them kidney patients, and thousands die every year before their turn comes.

Pigs have long been used in human medicine, including pig skin grafts and implantation of pig heart valves. But transplanting entire organs is much more complex than using highly processed tissue. The kidney implanted in Slayman was provided by eGenesis of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The pig was genetically edited to remove harmful pig genes and add certain human genes to improve its compatibility.

Slayman’s case was challenging, doctors said. Even before his first transplant, he had trouble being on dialysis and needed dozens of procedures to try to remove clots and restore blood flow. He became “increasingly despondent and depressed over his dialysis situation. At one point… he literally said ‘I just can’t go on like this,’” said his kidney doctor, Williams.

The Food and Drug Administration gave special permission for Slayman’s transplant under “compassionate use” rules.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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