Man with transplanted pig kidney is discharged from hospital in rare medical case

Pig kidney transplanted into man: In a rare medical case, the first person who successfully received a kidney transplant from a genetically modified pig, was performing so well after the groundbreaking surgery that the hospital discharged him on Wednesday (April 3), just weeks after the operation.

The pig kidney transplant and its positive outcome represent the achievement of a major feat in the world of medicine and are likely to start an era of cross-species organ transplantation.

The doctors have earlier carried out two previous organ transplants in which the organs of genetically modified pigs have been given to humans. However, both cases failed. In the two cases, the heart of the genetically modified pigs was transplanted into humans, after which both patients failed to survive.

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The two patients had received the hearts of the pig and both failed to survive a few weeks after the transplant. In one patient, the signs indicated that the immune system had rejected the organ. 

The kidney of the pig, which was transplanted into 62-year-old Richard Slayman has been functioning well, removing waste from the blood, producing urine and balancing the fluids of the body, as per the doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“This moment — leaving the hospital today with one of the cleanest bills of health I’ve had in a long time — is one I wished would come for many years,” Slayman said, in a statement released by the hospital.  “Now it’s a reality," he said.

The man claimed to have received “exceptional care” and also extended thanks to his nurses, physicians as well as all other well-wishers.

“Today marks a new beginning not just for me, but for them as well,” said Slayman.

Chief medical officer for the United Network for Organ Sharing, Dr David Klassen, who has been managing the organ transplant system of the nation, said that the surgery has increased the prospect of animal-to-human organ transplants, or xenotransplantation.

“Though much work remains to be done, I think the potential of this to benefit a large number of patients will be realized, and that was a question mark hovering over the field,” said Dr Klassen.

However, doubts still loom about whether the transplanted organ will be eventually rejected by Slayman's body, said Dr Klassen. 

However, if it is ultimately successful, the operation will have to be replicated in various patients and it will be studied in different clinical trials before xenotransplants are made widely available. 

He said that if these transplants are scaled up and integrated into the health care system, the doctors will face “daunting” logistical challenges, which include assurance of an adequate supply of organs from genetically engineered animals.