Pig heart transplant into a human

HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
39,387
32,889
136

First successful one performed on a Maryland man.

Pig was genetically altered.
What does that mean? Is it like that episode of Black Mirror? The Prime Minister and the pig?
 

Torn Mind

Lifer
Nov 25, 2012
12,078
2,772
136
And the guy is now dead because the heart had a virus.


A Maryland man, 57-year-old David Bennett Sr., died in March, two months after the groundbreaking experimental transplant. University of Maryland doctors said Thursday they found an unwelcome surprise — viral DNA inside the pig heart. They did not find signs that this bug, called porcine cytomegalovirus, was causing an active infection.

The Maryland team said the donor pig was healthy, had passed testing required by the Food and Drug Administration to check for infections, and was raised in a facility designed to prevent animals from spreading infections. Revivicor, the company that provided the animal, declined to comment.
Griffith said his patient, while very ill, had been recovering fairly well from the transplant when one morning he woke up worse, with symptoms similar to an infection. Doctors ran numerous tests to try to understand the cause, and gave Bennett a variety of antibiotics, antiviral medication and an immune-boosting treatment. But the pig heart became swollen, filled with fluid and eventually quit functioning.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: VirtualLarry

pete6032

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2010
8,149
3,587
136
And the guy is now dead because the heart had a virus.

So, supposing we hit the man's pig heart with a tremendous — whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light — and I think that hasn’t been checked, but you’re going to test it. And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way, and I think you said you’re going to test that, too. It sounds interesting. And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning. So it would be interesting to check that.
 

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
26,392
1,780
126
I should add that people needing heart transplants often have had pig hearts inside their bodies before needing the transplants....food for thought. (specifically, sketchy memphis bbq)
 
  • Like
Reactions: nakedfrog

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,616
13,817
126
www.anyf.ca
Waking up from that surgery is the tricky bit. The patients are known to become violent and think they're a cop and just randomly start yelling "STOP RESISTING!" to everyone. It can take a few hours for that to stop until the anesthesia wears off completely.
 

Zorba

Lifer
Oct 22, 1999
15,613
11,256
136
Waking up from that surgery is the tricky bit. The patients are known to become violent and think they're a cop and just randomly start yelling "STOP RESISTING!" to everyone. It can take a few hours for that to stop until the anesthesia wears off completely.

at-first-i-was-like-meh.gif