Organ transplant: For the first time in the world, a heart transplant of a genetically modified pig was implanted in the heart of an American citizen
For the first time in the world, an American citizen has been transplanted into a genetically modified pig's heart through a heart transplant. According to the University of Maryland Medical School, the patient underwent a successful transplant, after which 57-year-old David Bennett from the United States became the first person in the world to have a pig's heart implanted.
Doctors say 57-year-old David Bennett's condition improved three days after a seven-hour experimental heart transplant. The heart transplant was performed in the US state of Baltimore.
This heart transplant was Bennett's last hope and desperate to save his life.
''it is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post.''
Speaking the day before his heart transplant, Bennett said: "It's like I'm either going to die or get this heart transplant." Yes, but this is my last resort.
Doctors at the American University of Maryland Medical Center sought special permission from the US medical regulator for the surgery, saying Bennett could have died if the heart had not been transplanted. Bennett was declared unfit for transplant due to his poor health.
This surgery is the result of years of hard work and research by the medical team performing the transplant and it could change human lives around the world.
The medical team also includes Pakistani doctors
''The medical team carrying out this feat in the world of medicine also includes a Pakistani doctor Mansoor Mohi-ud-Din from Karachi who is a graduate of Dow University of Health Sciences.''
Talking to Pakistan's local news channel Geo News, he said about the heart transplant that "in the initial experiments, a monkey's heart was implanted in a human being, but it did not prove to be useful. However, the experiment on pig was useful."
''we examined all the animals to see which animal is closest to man. In the beginning, the heart of a monkey was implanted, but it did not prove to be very useful. There are other reasons why we did all the research on pigs.'' He added that in this case.
He said,''We have well understood the genetic code of the pig's heart and any genetic modification can be made to it''.
He said that in the West, pig is also used in daily diet, so it was not considered as a defect in heart.
It should be noted that in Islam, pork has been declared as haraam food.
Dr Mansoor added that a pig heart transplant in a patient cost PKR 17.5 million. In this regard, Dr. Mansoor said that "the cost is higher because of the initial experience because it (in the heart of the pig) ten kinds of genetic changes were made."
''In the case of this heart transplant, the patient and his heart have to be constantly monitored.'' We have to take care that we have given the patient a new heart, but will the rest of the body accept this as well?"
Dr. Mansoor said that for this surgery he has researched and developed a special medicine for it so that the human body of the patient can accept the heart of the pig to work and no medical problem arises.
The University of Maryland Medical School said in a press release that surgeon Bartley Griffith said the surgery had "brought the world one step closer to overcoming the human organ crisis."
The crisis means that 17 people die every day in the United States while waiting for a transplant. More than 100,000 people in the United States are reportedly still on the waiting list for a heart transplant.
The possibility of using animal organs called 'zeno transplantation' to meet the demand for organ transplants in humans has long been considered, and the use of pig heart valves is already underway. Is normal
''Surgeons in New York announced that they had successfully transplanted a pig's kidney into a man.'' In October last year.
At the time, the surgery was considered the most advanced in the field. However, at the time, the man had died of brain death and there was no hope for his recovery.
Bennett hopes the heart transplant will help him live his next life. He was bedridden for six weeks before the surgery and was attached to a machine that was helping him survive.
he said last week,''I hope to get out of bed after I recover''.
According to reports, Bennett was able to breathe on his own on Monday, but he was kept under strict surveillance.
''But it is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post.'' According to Agence France-Presse, the pig used for the heart transplant was genetically modified and the genes that Bennett's body could reject were removed.
Surgeon Griffith says he is moving very carefully and is keeping a close eye on Bennett. Bennett's son, David Bennett Jr., told the Associated Press that "family members are still unaware of this."
But he said: "They are well aware of the importance of this surgery and they are well aware of its far-reaching effects." "And I think we've tried to give him (Bennett) a better life than his treatment after this transplant."
He added,''But I don't know if they can survive one day, one week, one rain or one year''.