Surgeons transplanted a kidney and thymus gland from a gene-edited pig into a 54-year-old woman in an attempt to extend her life. It's the latest experimental use of animal organs in humans.
Doctors have transplanted a pig kidney into a New Jersey woman who was near death, part of a dramatic pair of surgeries that also stabilized her failing heart. Lisa Pisano’s combination of heart and kidney failure left her too sick to qualify for a traditional transplant, and out of options. Then doctors at NYU Langone Health devised a novel one-two punch: Implant a mechanical pump to keep her heart beating and days later transplant a kidney from a genetically modified pig.
For the first time, surgeons at NYU Langone Health performed a combined mechanical heart pump and gene-edited pig kidney transplant into a living person.
The first transplant surgery to combine a mechanical heart pump as well as a gene-edited pig kidney has been completed at NYU Langone Health, the system said Wednesday.
A New Jersey woman who was near death has received a transplanted pig kidney, part of a dramatic pair of surgeries that also stabilized her failing heart.